December 19, 2012
I can't remember the last time I laced up my Addidas Marathons and hit the pavement. I can't remember the last time I laced up my Addidas Duramos and hit the mill. I am ashamed to say I can't remember the last time I ran. I would like to say it is because I was dealing with my mother's illness. I would like to say I was busy with sick kids and Thanksgiving. I would like to say I was busy with sick kids and Christmas (what is it with my kids and holidays that they have to get sick during those times?). Unfortunately, the truth is that I am lazy and once again I have hit that sweet spot in my chair that doesn't want me to get out of it. Stupid chair! Lazy me! Is it too early to start my New Year's Resolution? I hope not because I'm going to! But first an update.
My last blog I shared that my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and that she had had a lumpectomy with a bit of reconstructive surgery. They had taken a sample of her lymph nodes to be certain the cancer wasn't in those. That was over a month ago and of course the samples have come back....some time ago in fact. There was no cancer in her lymph nodes, praise God! The doctors did some further tests and to make a long story short my mother was given the option of chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Needless to say she chose radiation treatment. She is in her second week of treatment and is feeling good. She has been told to expect to feel tender like she has a sunburn and to feel tired but so far she is feeling good. This is awesome considering the holidays are a busy time of year. She's even offered to come and help me get my house ready for the holidays. I always host the Christmas Day dinner at my house and with three kids at home getting the house in order and keeping it that way isn't always easy. I haven't taken her up on that although I might this weekend since I've not finished getting my house decorated with the Christmas decorations. I have such lovely decorations this year; my mother in law gave me some awesome things and I bought some new decorations and I'm excited to get them put up. Unfortunately I do have a sick boy this week and it's putting a damper on both house cleaning and decorating. Not easy to decorate the house when you're cleaning up puke. UGH!!! Uh-oh, I digressed.....AGAIN. Anyway, my mother is doing fine and that's the update on that!
As far as my running goes, the plan is to start up again after Christmas. I had planned to get back to it two months ago but once again I got in a slump. It's so easy to find excuses not to do what you know you need to do but it's so hard to get up out of the chair, especially when I know I have to acclimate to those stupid hills again! Stupid hills! I think this time I'm going to start right out on the street instead of on the mill. If I'm running on the street then I automatically have to adjust to the hills and it's not like I have to readjust from running flat. That's what I keep telling myself anyway, the old "That's my story and I'm sticking to it!" thing, yeah, that's it! LOL!!! Anyway, so the plan is to get out there on the 26th and get a run in....that is as long as there's no ice on the ground. So far it's looking promising. It's not terribly cold out and I've got my cold running clothes. I just heard thunder, yes, folks, thunder in December, so I'm not sure what's going down with the weather. I would like a little snow on Christmas and then for it to go away so I can run outside the day after. :-)
I guess that's it for now....no more excuses, no more updates!
Happy Running,
KEA
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Thursday, November 1, 2012
On a Serious Note and Having Nothing to Do With Running At All
November 1, 2012
My last few blogs have been boring and short, sweet and to the point. This is because I didn't get them posted when the runs occurred and I had forgotten details. I'm sort of chronologically OCD and couldn't skip them so I just posted the basics and what I could remember of each run so I could have them sort of to follow myself chronologically. There are a couple that I don't even remember the date so they weren't dated (which, incidentally bugs the crap out of me but there's nothing I can do about it so I just have to live with it). Anyway, the reason I haven't been posting and I've not even been running or training or even thinking about running and/or training is because in the past month my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer has always been a cause that I have always felt particularly strong about but a few years ago my Aunt Bonnie, my mother's younger sister, was diagnosed and it became a much more important cause to me. In June, I ran my first 5k and it was the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in St. Louis, MO. I have never seen so many people affected by one thing in my whole life as I saw that day. So many women had someone's name on their back.....many had more than one. One family had three women's names on their back all "In Memory Of;" all three women listed had lost their lives to breast cancer. I was so grateful that sign on my back said "In Celebration Of Aunt Bonnie" instead of "In Memory Of" and my heart went out to all those who weren't fortunate enough to have "In Celebration Of."
Even now as I write I am overwhelmed with the emotion of the race and the women who were there but most of all the women in the Survivors Procession which was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. Thousands of women waving their arms in victory and if there was one person there who wasn't moved I would be surprised. But most of all I am overwhelmed with emotion over the past month because all of sudden it was MY mother and it was MY family that has been affected by this disease. Now it is us who is going to the doctor and looking on the internet for answers to questions that we didn't even know how to ask.....the first being "Is my mother going to die?" I am 42 years old; my mother is 72 and I have accepted that as I get older my mother's life expectancy gets shorter. I have accepted that one day my mother will indeed die. We even joke about. We walk through her house and she asks me about what I want from her collections of pretty things and her china and her teapots and such so she can let her husband know what is to be mine and what goes to my sister when she dies. We tease about what she doesn't want at her funeral but at the same time these discussions hold a note of seriousness. These are things that need to be discussed and decided so no one has to make decisions when the time comes. No one wants to make those kinds of decisions when they are overwrought with grief. I have these discussions myself with my husband ("If something happens to me, I want you to make sure that _________________"). But for the first time in my life this reality has become a real reality. It was so close that if I could reach out and touch it I could have touched it; if you understand what I mean. I don't like the way that feels. I can accept the fact that my mother is going to die but until it happens I don't want to think about it and all of sudden I had to think about it. It was terrifying and unsettling. My life seemed to stop in my head for a whole two weeks while we were waiting to find out if she indeed had breast cancer and after we found out while we waited to see the doctor about options.
I went to the doctor with my mother and her husband. I knew the doctor we were going to see. I had seen her when I had problems with my first mammogram. She is very kind and reassuring. And she knows what she is talking about (as I hope she would since she is the expert on boobies here!) One of the first things she told us was that my mother is NOT going to die of this breast cancer. I had been putting on a brave front and told my children, my husband and my sister as well as anyone else who knew that I was not going to worry until the doctor told me too and while this was true to an extent, it is hard to follow up with it by actually believing it fully myself. So when the doctor told us this I was much more relaxed. My mother's cancer had been caught soon enough and it is very responsive to treatment. As I type this, my mother is currently at home....well, I can't say that for sure. She might be out running errands because when I talked to her this morning she was curling her hair and I'm not sure if she does that if she is just going to hang around the house or if she does it every day regardless of her daily plans. She does like to be a well put together woman so I wouldn't be surprised if she was doing it just because it's what she does....but I digress, my mother is doing fine right now. She had a lumpectomy on Tuesday along with a little bit of reconstructive surgery. They took the infected tissue out as well as some lymph nodes for testing. They want to be sure her lymph nodes do not have cancer. If they do, then her treatment plan will have to be revised. We do not expect the lymph nodes to be cancerous. This is the power of positive thinking but also due to the fact that the cancer was caught so soon. Because of the tissue that was removed, things needed to be adjusted a little so my mother's chest wouldn't look funny, thus the reconstructive surgery; it just involved moving a little tissue around. When my mother has healed from the surgery, she will begin radiation treatment five days a week for I think six weeks. After that she will take an oral hormone for five years and as long as the cancer doesn't come back (my aunt's has not come back and it's been four or five years) Mom will be fine. Prognosis is excellent and we are on the right track but this bump in the road has me thinking a lot about life and many things.
I put my life on hold and I got stalled for a very long time. Now that treatment has begun it is much easier for me to get back to my life and the way things were. This is why I haven't been running despite my running friends telling me that I needed to get out there and get to it since running is exercise and exercise is stress relief and I love running so much. I must remember to take care of myself and my children despite the stresses of life, even if one of those stresses is the potential death of my own mother. I was blessed this time. My mother will continue her life and I am happy for that. But there is going to be a time when I won't be so blessed. My mother will die and so will my father. It's a part of life and I thought I was prepared for it, but I'm not. I guess I need to work on being more like my husband. He believes that we need to enjoy people while they are here and in our lives because one day those people are not going to be in our lives whether it be through distance or death or whatever. He believes that we shouldn't be sad when we lose those we love; we should appreciate the time we had with them. I need to learn to be more like that in some ways.
KEA
My last few blogs have been boring and short, sweet and to the point. This is because I didn't get them posted when the runs occurred and I had forgotten details. I'm sort of chronologically OCD and couldn't skip them so I just posted the basics and what I could remember of each run so I could have them sort of to follow myself chronologically. There are a couple that I don't even remember the date so they weren't dated (which, incidentally bugs the crap out of me but there's nothing I can do about it so I just have to live with it). Anyway, the reason I haven't been posting and I've not even been running or training or even thinking about running and/or training is because in the past month my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer has always been a cause that I have always felt particularly strong about but a few years ago my Aunt Bonnie, my mother's younger sister, was diagnosed and it became a much more important cause to me. In June, I ran my first 5k and it was the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in St. Louis, MO. I have never seen so many people affected by one thing in my whole life as I saw that day. So many women had someone's name on their back.....many had more than one. One family had three women's names on their back all "In Memory Of;" all three women listed had lost their lives to breast cancer. I was so grateful that sign on my back said "In Celebration Of Aunt Bonnie" instead of "In Memory Of" and my heart went out to all those who weren't fortunate enough to have "In Celebration Of."
Even now as I write I am overwhelmed with the emotion of the race and the women who were there but most of all the women in the Survivors Procession which was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. Thousands of women waving their arms in victory and if there was one person there who wasn't moved I would be surprised. But most of all I am overwhelmed with emotion over the past month because all of sudden it was MY mother and it was MY family that has been affected by this disease. Now it is us who is going to the doctor and looking on the internet for answers to questions that we didn't even know how to ask.....the first being "Is my mother going to die?" I am 42 years old; my mother is 72 and I have accepted that as I get older my mother's life expectancy gets shorter. I have accepted that one day my mother will indeed die. We even joke about. We walk through her house and she asks me about what I want from her collections of pretty things and her china and her teapots and such so she can let her husband know what is to be mine and what goes to my sister when she dies. We tease about what she doesn't want at her funeral but at the same time these discussions hold a note of seriousness. These are things that need to be discussed and decided so no one has to make decisions when the time comes. No one wants to make those kinds of decisions when they are overwrought with grief. I have these discussions myself with my husband ("If something happens to me, I want you to make sure that _________________"). But for the first time in my life this reality has become a real reality. It was so close that if I could reach out and touch it I could have touched it; if you understand what I mean. I don't like the way that feels. I can accept the fact that my mother is going to die but until it happens I don't want to think about it and all of sudden I had to think about it. It was terrifying and unsettling. My life seemed to stop in my head for a whole two weeks while we were waiting to find out if she indeed had breast cancer and after we found out while we waited to see the doctor about options.
I went to the doctor with my mother and her husband. I knew the doctor we were going to see. I had seen her when I had problems with my first mammogram. She is very kind and reassuring. And she knows what she is talking about (as I hope she would since she is the expert on boobies here!) One of the first things she told us was that my mother is NOT going to die of this breast cancer. I had been putting on a brave front and told my children, my husband and my sister as well as anyone else who knew that I was not going to worry until the doctor told me too and while this was true to an extent, it is hard to follow up with it by actually believing it fully myself. So when the doctor told us this I was much more relaxed. My mother's cancer had been caught soon enough and it is very responsive to treatment. As I type this, my mother is currently at home....well, I can't say that for sure. She might be out running errands because when I talked to her this morning she was curling her hair and I'm not sure if she does that if she is just going to hang around the house or if she does it every day regardless of her daily plans. She does like to be a well put together woman so I wouldn't be surprised if she was doing it just because it's what she does....but I digress, my mother is doing fine right now. She had a lumpectomy on Tuesday along with a little bit of reconstructive surgery. They took the infected tissue out as well as some lymph nodes for testing. They want to be sure her lymph nodes do not have cancer. If they do, then her treatment plan will have to be revised. We do not expect the lymph nodes to be cancerous. This is the power of positive thinking but also due to the fact that the cancer was caught so soon. Because of the tissue that was removed, things needed to be adjusted a little so my mother's chest wouldn't look funny, thus the reconstructive surgery; it just involved moving a little tissue around. When my mother has healed from the surgery, she will begin radiation treatment five days a week for I think six weeks. After that she will take an oral hormone for five years and as long as the cancer doesn't come back (my aunt's has not come back and it's been four or five years) Mom will be fine. Prognosis is excellent and we are on the right track but this bump in the road has me thinking a lot about life and many things.
I put my life on hold and I got stalled for a very long time. Now that treatment has begun it is much easier for me to get back to my life and the way things were. This is why I haven't been running despite my running friends telling me that I needed to get out there and get to it since running is exercise and exercise is stress relief and I love running so much. I must remember to take care of myself and my children despite the stresses of life, even if one of those stresses is the potential death of my own mother. I was blessed this time. My mother will continue her life and I am happy for that. But there is going to be a time when I won't be so blessed. My mother will die and so will my father. It's a part of life and I thought I was prepared for it, but I'm not. I guess I need to work on being more like my husband. He believes that we need to enjoy people while they are here and in our lives because one day those people are not going to be in our lives whether it be through distance or death or whatever. He believes that we shouldn't be sad when we lose those we love; we should appreciate the time we had with them. I need to learn to be more like that in some ways.
KEA
CES Wildcats, Go Team Go!
October 6, 2012
I made a trip up to my hometown specifically to run this 5k. I attended CES which now goes by another name from my first grade year all the way to graduate from 8th grade (with the exception of my 7th grade year which I attended at another school in another town.) I am very proud to say that I was a CES Wildcat and I was very pleased to run in this 5k to represent my old grade school/junior high. I have many wonderful memories of going to school there. One of my eighth grade teachers still teaches there and I am glad to say I have her as a friend on my Facebook as well. :-) She teaches history and she is how I found out about this race. I immediately signed up and began training (sort of.....)
So....my youngest daughter and I made the three hour drive and planned on staying the whole weekend. I was super excited about this trip because not only did I get to run a 5k, I got to spend time with my besties. It's hard to live so far away from your best friends and I cherish every weekend I get to spend with them! We got there on Friday evening. I had to go to the school to pick up my race packet so while we were there, my daughter and I toured the school. The school that we toured was not the school I went to. In the many years (we won't say just how many) that have passed since I graduated eighth grade the school/church has moved and expanded. It's funny how even though this is not the building I attended in it was just like going back to the old school. The building had the same feel to it and the memories of my grade school years came flooding back. It was amazing and my daughter told me she wished she could go there. I wish she could too! After we left the school we went to one of my best friends' house where we would be staying for the weekend. We had a wonderful visit and we went out to eat where I made my second mistake. We went to the Longhorn Steakhouse....I think that's where we went. We had the homemade potato chips, oh so good! I had a salad and the bread (but not too much)....YUM YUM YUM!!! Then I had steak that was stuffed with cheese. Oh, it was all so good! I tried not to eat too much but I'm afraid I probably did (second mistake, first being I just didn't train hard enough). We then went back and talked for a while then went to bed since we had to get up early the next day for racing day!
My best friend and my other best friend's mother went to the race with us. It was super cold!!!! It was about 39 degrees!!!! COLD COLD COLD!!! This was the first opportunity I have had to try out my new cold weather running gear. I had bought a pair of full legged, warm running pants and a long sleeved top and had yet to try them out. This was the first opportunity I had and I was very pleased with them. While it was very cold out, I stayed warm with a jacket. I only wished I had warmer socks and that I had remembered to bring gloves and I wished I had a headband to cover my ears....oh, and I wished I had more tissues in my pocket! By the time I was done with the race, the one that I carried was full of holes and well, just plain used up!
So at the start of the race I was cold. We ran across the parking lot of the church through the grass and into a wooded area on a trail that was covered in wood chips. I would like to express now that I do NOT like to run on wood chips. They feel unstable and I felt like I was being careful so as not to trip over a tree root or something unexpected. While we were only on the wood chips a very short time I felt like it cut into my time. We next hit a concrete surface and my body and mind were very happy to be back on familiar (and stable) territory. I ran with a woman my age for a bit and we hit a wooden bridge. It was icy and I slipped and decided it was safest just to walk very fast and hold onto the railing. I did this for two bridges, more time lost. I pulled ahead of the lady I was running with after the bridges and rounded the half way point. By this time I was running with a twenty-something and we chatted for a bit as we were running along. This was her first 5k and she was afraid she had made a mistake in signing up for it. I assured her she was doing fine, especially when she ran on ahead and finished quite a bit ahead of me! The going got harder and I was back on the bridges again.....more lost time again as I didn't want to fall and bust my booty; I'm not as young as I used to be and while I can endure the embarrassment of falling, I'm not sure my body would be so happy at me falling, especially when it was so cold! I was also wearing out and I can't remember wanting to be done so bad! This made me sad because I had been looking forward to running this race for so long! I guess I should've been training harder and I should've been running out in the cold so I would be better prepared. Although, in my defense, this was the first time it had been this cold in a while. I was very tempted to do some walking but again, this feels like defeat to me and I kept it going even if it was more of a walk with a bounce. I came into the home stretch and I will confess, I wanted to do a full sprint home, but 1) the grass was wet and slippery and 2) I just couldn't get my body to respond to my brain's commands. How disappointing. :-(
Here are the details: I ran 3.13 miles and according to my Garmin my time was 33:28. According to the chip on my shoe my time was 33:08.....who's for going with the chip's time? Yes, yes, I think we will. LOL! My overall pace was 10:42 and it was super cold....39 degrees (that's in Fairenheit for those that it matters) and for the first mile I couldn't feel my feet! I placed 24th out of 65 and came in second for my age group....GO ME!!! My second post on the dailymile.com says that the race posted my time at 33:15 while my chip had me at 33:09 and my Garmin timed me at 33:20 something. I'm not unhappy with any of those times so we will just post them all and be content.
Overall, I'm disappointed in myself as I felt awful throughout the whole run. It was painful and even though I say I'm content with the time I felt I could have done better. My goal is to do a 5k in under 30 minutes so I better get to training because I just don't know when the next one will be!
Happy Running!
KEA
I made a trip up to my hometown specifically to run this 5k. I attended CES which now goes by another name from my first grade year all the way to graduate from 8th grade (with the exception of my 7th grade year which I attended at another school in another town.) I am very proud to say that I was a CES Wildcat and I was very pleased to run in this 5k to represent my old grade school/junior high. I have many wonderful memories of going to school there. One of my eighth grade teachers still teaches there and I am glad to say I have her as a friend on my Facebook as well. :-) She teaches history and she is how I found out about this race. I immediately signed up and began training (sort of.....)
So....my youngest daughter and I made the three hour drive and planned on staying the whole weekend. I was super excited about this trip because not only did I get to run a 5k, I got to spend time with my besties. It's hard to live so far away from your best friends and I cherish every weekend I get to spend with them! We got there on Friday evening. I had to go to the school to pick up my race packet so while we were there, my daughter and I toured the school. The school that we toured was not the school I went to. In the many years (we won't say just how many) that have passed since I graduated eighth grade the school/church has moved and expanded. It's funny how even though this is not the building I attended in it was just like going back to the old school. The building had the same feel to it and the memories of my grade school years came flooding back. It was amazing and my daughter told me she wished she could go there. I wish she could too! After we left the school we went to one of my best friends' house where we would be staying for the weekend. We had a wonderful visit and we went out to eat where I made my second mistake. We went to the Longhorn Steakhouse....I think that's where we went. We had the homemade potato chips, oh so good! I had a salad and the bread (but not too much)....YUM YUM YUM!!! Then I had steak that was stuffed with cheese. Oh, it was all so good! I tried not to eat too much but I'm afraid I probably did (second mistake, first being I just didn't train hard enough). We then went back and talked for a while then went to bed since we had to get up early the next day for racing day!
My best friend and my other best friend's mother went to the race with us. It was super cold!!!! It was about 39 degrees!!!! COLD COLD COLD!!! This was the first opportunity I have had to try out my new cold weather running gear. I had bought a pair of full legged, warm running pants and a long sleeved top and had yet to try them out. This was the first opportunity I had and I was very pleased with them. While it was very cold out, I stayed warm with a jacket. I only wished I had warmer socks and that I had remembered to bring gloves and I wished I had a headband to cover my ears....oh, and I wished I had more tissues in my pocket! By the time I was done with the race, the one that I carried was full of holes and well, just plain used up!
So at the start of the race I was cold. We ran across the parking lot of the church through the grass and into a wooded area on a trail that was covered in wood chips. I would like to express now that I do NOT like to run on wood chips. They feel unstable and I felt like I was being careful so as not to trip over a tree root or something unexpected. While we were only on the wood chips a very short time I felt like it cut into my time. We next hit a concrete surface and my body and mind were very happy to be back on familiar (and stable) territory. I ran with a woman my age for a bit and we hit a wooden bridge. It was icy and I slipped and decided it was safest just to walk very fast and hold onto the railing. I did this for two bridges, more time lost. I pulled ahead of the lady I was running with after the bridges and rounded the half way point. By this time I was running with a twenty-something and we chatted for a bit as we were running along. This was her first 5k and she was afraid she had made a mistake in signing up for it. I assured her she was doing fine, especially when she ran on ahead and finished quite a bit ahead of me! The going got harder and I was back on the bridges again.....more lost time again as I didn't want to fall and bust my booty; I'm not as young as I used to be and while I can endure the embarrassment of falling, I'm not sure my body would be so happy at me falling, especially when it was so cold! I was also wearing out and I can't remember wanting to be done so bad! This made me sad because I had been looking forward to running this race for so long! I guess I should've been training harder and I should've been running out in the cold so I would be better prepared. Although, in my defense, this was the first time it had been this cold in a while. I was very tempted to do some walking but again, this feels like defeat to me and I kept it going even if it was more of a walk with a bounce. I came into the home stretch and I will confess, I wanted to do a full sprint home, but 1) the grass was wet and slippery and 2) I just couldn't get my body to respond to my brain's commands. How disappointing. :-(
Here are the details: I ran 3.13 miles and according to my Garmin my time was 33:28. According to the chip on my shoe my time was 33:08.....who's for going with the chip's time? Yes, yes, I think we will. LOL! My overall pace was 10:42 and it was super cold....39 degrees (that's in Fairenheit for those that it matters) and for the first mile I couldn't feel my feet! I placed 24th out of 65 and came in second for my age group....GO ME!!! My second post on the dailymile.com says that the race posted my time at 33:15 while my chip had me at 33:09 and my Garmin timed me at 33:20 something. I'm not unhappy with any of those times so we will just post them all and be content.
Overall, I'm disappointed in myself as I felt awful throughout the whole run. It was painful and even though I say I'm content with the time I felt I could have done better. My goal is to do a 5k in under 30 minutes so I better get to training because I just don't know when the next one will be!
Happy Running!
KEA
DOH!!!!
Okay....so today I did a super stupid thing. While cleaning the bathroom I put bleach in the toilet because it was REALLY nasty. Then I wasn't think about the consequences and later added toilet bowl cleaner to the bleach. It created intense fumes and I had to go outside. Thought I was going to throw up for a while but I didn't. I didn't feel well all afternoon but when it was time for cheer leading practice I knew I had to get out there and get a run in because I had a race coming up on Saturday. Did I mention I signed up for another 5k? Oh, I did. This time it is for my old grade school in my hometown. I am super stoked about it so I needed to get some practice in.
So, I laced on my running shoes and headed out. This run was really hard. I was having trouble with my breathing due to the toilet bowl incident. My stomach was still feeling upset and my nose was burning. I had to walk a lot through this run. I think it was because of the toilet bowl incident but it might also have something to do with the fact that I've been neglecting my running. This is not a good thing since I've got that upcoming 5k. I'm a little worried.
I will keep this one short and sweet since there's nothing really to share about it other than the fact that I was feeling pretty awful. Mental note: NEVER mix bleach and toilet bowl cleaner again. As I type I'm feeling nauseated just thinking about it! Anyway, here's the details: I ran 3.23 miles and it took me 35 minutes. My average pace was 10:44.
I'm not terribly pleased with this run for obvious reasons. I wasn't feeling good; I've got a race coming up and I like to have a better time. But all in all I'm glad I got out there despite feeling like poop.
Happy Running!
KEA
So, I laced on my running shoes and headed out. This run was really hard. I was having trouble with my breathing due to the toilet bowl incident. My stomach was still feeling upset and my nose was burning. I had to walk a lot through this run. I think it was because of the toilet bowl incident but it might also have something to do with the fact that I've been neglecting my running. This is not a good thing since I've got that upcoming 5k. I'm a little worried.
I will keep this one short and sweet since there's nothing really to share about it other than the fact that I was feeling pretty awful. Mental note: NEVER mix bleach and toilet bowl cleaner again. As I type I'm feeling nauseated just thinking about it! Anyway, here's the details: I ran 3.23 miles and it took me 35 minutes. My average pace was 10:44.
I'm not terribly pleased with this run for obvious reasons. I wasn't feeling good; I've got a race coming up and I like to have a better time. But all in all I'm glad I got out there despite feeling like poop.
Happy Running!
KEA
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy
Happy, happy, joy, joy! I have found the place for the new shoes! It is on the treadmill! Who would've thought, eh? WOOT WOOT!!!! Today I hit the mill and again I played with the speed button. I started out with the speed at 6.0 MPH which, in retrospect I probably shouldn't have done because after I ran one mile at that speed I was wiped out! It felt good to be running that fast though. I want to be able to do that on a regular basis. My side started hurting and I had to slow down. I kicked the mill down to 5.6 MPH and ran that for a bit but it was still too fast for me after running @ 6.0 MPH so I slowed down to 5.4, then 5.2. Unfortunately I was just worn out and I had to finally end up running at 5.0 MPH. This was a little disappointing for me but then I've always got high expectations for myself. I really need to get over that. I need to work on that!
Here are the details: Boring run today aside from messing with the speed. I didn't experiment with the incline today, just the default 1.5 incline. I ran for 3.16 miles and it took me 35 minutes. Had to stop quite a bit today. I wore myself out. My average pace was 11:04 which again, seems slow. I really need to work on my speed. I need to get back to reading my book on how to improve my speed.
Once again, sorry this one isn't more lively. Treadmill running is boring but I'm happy with my new shoes on the treadmill. They feel much better on the mill than on the trail. On another note, there's a 5k in my hometown for the grade school/junior high I attended. I signed up for it and I'm really excited for it! It's in a couple of weeks. Gotta get to training!
Happy Running!
KEA
Dirty Shoes, Uber Sad Face :-(
September 25, 2012
I've not been feeling well lately and I'm not sleeping well either. So this run didn't feel as good as the last one. I decided to give my new shoes another workout so I laced up and headed out to the cheer leading trail again. The sky was looking a little rough so I hoped to be done before it started to rain.
This run was uneventful except that somehow my shoes have gotten dirty! Somewhere along the line my shoes have gotten some kind of berry on them. It's very strange because the berry mess is on the top of the foot and that makes me sad, silly I know but still....You know how when you get a new pair of shoes you want to keep them clean as long as possible? Well, you get the picture. I mean, this is only the second time I'd worn these shoes and they are already dirty! Bummer....
So, anyway, this run was uneventful. It was just me grinding out my 3.1 miles trying to get done before the rain hit.
Here's the breakdown: I ran 3.11 miles. It took me 33 minutes to get it done and my average pace was 10:40. Just as I was hitting the end I saw lightening streak across the sky so I finished just in time for them to cancel the rest of cheer leading practice.
Not much else to say about this one, guys. Sorry I'm boring!
Happy Running,
KEA
I've not been feeling well lately and I'm not sleeping well either. So this run didn't feel as good as the last one. I decided to give my new shoes another workout so I laced up and headed out to the cheer leading trail again. The sky was looking a little rough so I hoped to be done before it started to rain.
This run was uneventful except that somehow my shoes have gotten dirty! Somewhere along the line my shoes have gotten some kind of berry on them. It's very strange because the berry mess is on the top of the foot and that makes me sad, silly I know but still....You know how when you get a new pair of shoes you want to keep them clean as long as possible? Well, you get the picture. I mean, this is only the second time I'd worn these shoes and they are already dirty! Bummer....
So, anyway, this run was uneventful. It was just me grinding out my 3.1 miles trying to get done before the rain hit.
Here's the breakdown: I ran 3.11 miles. It took me 33 minutes to get it done and my average pace was 10:40. Just as I was hitting the end I saw lightening streak across the sky so I finished just in time for them to cancel the rest of cheer leading practice.
Not much else to say about this one, guys. Sorry I'm boring!
Happy Running,
KEA
I Am a Beast!
September 13, 2012
I recently got a new pair of shoes and so many things kept coming up (and I kept using them as an excuse not to run) that I haven't had the opportunity to try them out until tonight. They are Addidas (my current brand of choice) Duramo 4's and the jury is still out as to whether or not I like them. They fit well and I guess they are okay but I didn't love them as much as I do my Addidas Marathon 10's. Perhaps I'm just more attached to the Marathons. We shall see as I intend to give the Duramo's the benefit of the doubt and will continue to break them in.
Tonight's run was the cheer leading practice trail. The loop is getting boring but the hills are getting easier. There's that big one at the beginning of my run and it's hard but it is less intimidating each time I run this route. That makes me happy.
Tonight I was just in a great place both physically and mentally. I haven't run much lately and I thought I would have a problem with the hills, with exhaustion and with lack of enthusiasm but I didn't. Tonight I just felt like the wind was in me and I was just "on". It felt great! (Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on the new shoes? LOL!) It came down to the last bit of the my usual 5k distance and I was listening to my iPod. I had recently added some new music to my "marathon mix" that I run to and I was listening to Amy Grant's "Sing Your Praise to the Lord". There's just something about that intro where the piano is playing and it comes to a grand crescendo and I couldn't help myself; I did a huge ballerina leap right on the path. I didn't care who saw me and I didn't care if anyone thought I was nuts. I just couldn't help myself. I felt great and my feet just left the ground. I know I probably looked silly but it doesn't matter because I felt great and when you feel great you have the right to do a ridiculous ballerina leap on the path of the trail! And, if I do say so myself, I don't think I looked as ridiculous as you might think. :-) Finally, to top it all off I ran farther than I have run in a very long time. All this makes me very happy....except for the shoes which didn't feel comfortable.
So, here's the break down: I ran 3.52 miles (GO ME) and it took me 40 minutes to do it. My average pace was 11:21 which seems slow but since I ran farther than I've run in a while and I was wearing new shoes I'm really content with this run. I felt great when I was done (as evidenced by said ballerina leap) and I felt like I'd accomplished something so at the risk of being made fun of by those who run double digits faster than I can run one simple mile; I am a beast!
Happy Running!
KEA
I recently got a new pair of shoes and so many things kept coming up (and I kept using them as an excuse not to run) that I haven't had the opportunity to try them out until tonight. They are Addidas (my current brand of choice) Duramo 4's and the jury is still out as to whether or not I like them. They fit well and I guess they are okay but I didn't love them as much as I do my Addidas Marathon 10's. Perhaps I'm just more attached to the Marathons. We shall see as I intend to give the Duramo's the benefit of the doubt and will continue to break them in.
Tonight's run was the cheer leading practice trail. The loop is getting boring but the hills are getting easier. There's that big one at the beginning of my run and it's hard but it is less intimidating each time I run this route. That makes me happy.
Tonight I was just in a great place both physically and mentally. I haven't run much lately and I thought I would have a problem with the hills, with exhaustion and with lack of enthusiasm but I didn't. Tonight I just felt like the wind was in me and I was just "on". It felt great! (Maybe I shouldn't be so hard on the new shoes? LOL!) It came down to the last bit of the my usual 5k distance and I was listening to my iPod. I had recently added some new music to my "marathon mix" that I run to and I was listening to Amy Grant's "Sing Your Praise to the Lord". There's just something about that intro where the piano is playing and it comes to a grand crescendo and I couldn't help myself; I did a huge ballerina leap right on the path. I didn't care who saw me and I didn't care if anyone thought I was nuts. I just couldn't help myself. I felt great and my feet just left the ground. I know I probably looked silly but it doesn't matter because I felt great and when you feel great you have the right to do a ridiculous ballerina leap on the path of the trail! And, if I do say so myself, I don't think I looked as ridiculous as you might think. :-) Finally, to top it all off I ran farther than I have run in a very long time. All this makes me very happy....except for the shoes which didn't feel comfortable.
So, here's the break down: I ran 3.52 miles (GO ME) and it took me 40 minutes to do it. My average pace was 11:21 which seems slow but since I ran farther than I've run in a while and I was wearing new shoes I'm really content with this run. I felt great when I was done (as evidenced by said ballerina leap) and I felt like I'd accomplished something so at the risk of being made fun of by those who run double digits faster than I can run one simple mile; I am a beast!
Happy Running!
KEA
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Treading the Mill but Feeling Good About It
September 11, 2012
Well, I'm back on the mill again today. It's hot and I didn't want to hit the road since it was so close to the time school gets out. Maybe I'm hiding from the hills that kicked my butt at the Popeye Picnic Race but I'll never admit it! Anyway, I hit the mill today.
Today I decided to mess with speed and pace. I ran today's workout with 30 minutes at race pace. I also ran one mile at the fastest I've ever run on the treadmill. There's not much to say about this run. The treadmill is BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING and so are my blogs when I write about it.
Not many details here today. I messed a little with incline but what with running faster I had to put it back down to the default setting. I was more interested in seeing how fast I could run and how long I could keep up a faster pace.
Here are the details: I ran 3.2 miles. It took me 35 minutes (I like to end the workout with whole numbers with no seconds). My average pace was 10:56 but I did run one mile at 5.8 MPH which according to the treadmill is a pace of 10:20! GO ME!
I'm pretty satisfied with this run. It was on the treadmill which is not exciting but I felt like I accomplished something and after feeling so crappy about my performance in the Popeye Picnic 5k I needed to feel better about myself. So I'm happy with this run and there's not much else to say about it so we'll just end it here.
Happy Running,
KEA
Well, I'm back on the mill again today. It's hot and I didn't want to hit the road since it was so close to the time school gets out. Maybe I'm hiding from the hills that kicked my butt at the Popeye Picnic Race but I'll never admit it! Anyway, I hit the mill today.
Today I decided to mess with speed and pace. I ran today's workout with 30 minutes at race pace. I also ran one mile at the fastest I've ever run on the treadmill. There's not much to say about this run. The treadmill is BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING and so are my blogs when I write about it.
Not many details here today. I messed a little with incline but what with running faster I had to put it back down to the default setting. I was more interested in seeing how fast I could run and how long I could keep up a faster pace.
Here are the details: I ran 3.2 miles. It took me 35 minutes (I like to end the workout with whole numbers with no seconds). My average pace was 10:56 but I did run one mile at 5.8 MPH which according to the treadmill is a pace of 10:20! GO ME!
I'm pretty satisfied with this run. It was on the treadmill which is not exciting but I felt like I accomplished something and after feeling so crappy about my performance in the Popeye Picnic 5k I needed to feel better about myself. So I'm happy with this run and there's not much else to say about it so we'll just end it here.
Happy Running,
KEA
Technical difficulties and DFL
September 8, 2012
It's racing day; it's racing day. It's racing day; it's racing day. It's not snowball chasing day! Today's the day we race! This is a song from the kids' show "The Back Yardigans" from the episode where they all have a big race. It goes through my mind every time I run a 5k. LOL! So.....if you couldn't guess today was racing day! It never gets easier to wake up early on a Saturday morning although I did try to go to bed early last night. I felt a bit jittery this morning, as usual for a race. We got to the race site (we could've walked we live so close) but I didn't feel like it. In retrospect I probably should've so I would've been warmed up. It was chilly today and my daughter was bundled up in a blanket.
It seemed to take a long time for the race to start. I don't know if that was just prerace jitters or if they were running behind but it just seemed like time was moving very slow. We started out by the Buena Vista bank and ran down to the high school. We circled through the high school parking lot then came back to the Buena Vista bank (where we started) past it then down to the Gilster Mary Lee factory, turned and ran down to the main drag. We ran down to the court house (familiar run for me). When we reached the court house we turned and ran back the way we came and ended up back where we started at the Buena Vista bank.
This is pretty familiar territory for me. Reading my past blogs you know I'm familiar with the run from my house to the court house. What was really strange about this run is that I was running on the opposite side than what I normally run. My normal run takes me from my house to Rte 3 up to State St to the court house then turn around and back again. So I run on the side of the street that keeps me from having to cross too many streets. The race came from the other direction so I was running on the opposite side of the street. It felt uncomfortable. It was like wearing a new pair of shoes; you know they are the right size and you like them but they aren't broken in yet. Maybe I'm just trying to make excuses for my poor performance but it didn't feel right running on the other side of the road.
When we started out I was in the front to middle of the group. It didn't take long for me to fall behind though although I didn't feel like I slowed down and my pace wasn't any slower than normal. I guess I was just being passed. About five minutes in my Garmin messed up for some reason and turned itself off. I lost a bit of time (on the Garmin, I didn't stop running) so the numbers put up by my Garmin weren't accurate. :-( I felt like I was doing well, personally but apparently I wasn't. It didn't take long for me to be far in the back. Like I said, I didn't feel like I was slow; I guess everyone else was just faster than me. The first part of the race felt good. The hills didn't feel too bad but I knew what was coming up over by the court house so I wanted to save my energy for that. By the time I got to that part of the race I was feeling it. I guess I didn't train hard enough before the race because I ended up having to walk the hills. I felt defeated by those stupid hills and what was worse was that I couldn't even pass the walkers! UGH!!!! This was a hard race for me and I was very disappointed in myself.
Today I tried out some new running shorts and a new shirt. I LOVED them! They were the shiny slick material and of course they were breast cancer awareness gear. Breast cancer awareness/support and research is my chosen charity. I will be running in this gear again.
Here's the numbers: The race was a 5k so with my Garmin messing up I don't have the exact distance but a 5k is 3.1 miles so we're going with that. It took me 34:44 (which at the time was a personal best). My average pace was 10:42. I came in 180th out of 205 and 7th out of ten in my age group. My husband told me later that if I'd run just three minutes faster I would've come in 3rd in my age group. Gee, thanks, Honey, LOL! Incidentally he backed out of running so I won the challenge by default. NOT how I wanted to win. :-(
As I said, despite my personal best I am not happy with this race. I am, however, humbled. I don't know why I thought I would do better but it just showed me that I can't get cocky. It also gave me the fire to train harder so that next year I will do better...and yes, I will do better next year. My goal is to come in first in my age group. GO ME!
Happy Running,
KEA
It's racing day; it's racing day. It's racing day; it's racing day. It's not snowball chasing day! Today's the day we race! This is a song from the kids' show "The Back Yardigans" from the episode where they all have a big race. It goes through my mind every time I run a 5k. LOL! So.....if you couldn't guess today was racing day! It never gets easier to wake up early on a Saturday morning although I did try to go to bed early last night. I felt a bit jittery this morning, as usual for a race. We got to the race site (we could've walked we live so close) but I didn't feel like it. In retrospect I probably should've so I would've been warmed up. It was chilly today and my daughter was bundled up in a blanket.
It seemed to take a long time for the race to start. I don't know if that was just prerace jitters or if they were running behind but it just seemed like time was moving very slow. We started out by the Buena Vista bank and ran down to the high school. We circled through the high school parking lot then came back to the Buena Vista bank (where we started) past it then down to the Gilster Mary Lee factory, turned and ran down to the main drag. We ran down to the court house (familiar run for me). When we reached the court house we turned and ran back the way we came and ended up back where we started at the Buena Vista bank.
This is pretty familiar territory for me. Reading my past blogs you know I'm familiar with the run from my house to the court house. What was really strange about this run is that I was running on the opposite side than what I normally run. My normal run takes me from my house to Rte 3 up to State St to the court house then turn around and back again. So I run on the side of the street that keeps me from having to cross too many streets. The race came from the other direction so I was running on the opposite side of the street. It felt uncomfortable. It was like wearing a new pair of shoes; you know they are the right size and you like them but they aren't broken in yet. Maybe I'm just trying to make excuses for my poor performance but it didn't feel right running on the other side of the road.
When we started out I was in the front to middle of the group. It didn't take long for me to fall behind though although I didn't feel like I slowed down and my pace wasn't any slower than normal. I guess I was just being passed. About five minutes in my Garmin messed up for some reason and turned itself off. I lost a bit of time (on the Garmin, I didn't stop running) so the numbers put up by my Garmin weren't accurate. :-( I felt like I was doing well, personally but apparently I wasn't. It didn't take long for me to be far in the back. Like I said, I didn't feel like I was slow; I guess everyone else was just faster than me. The first part of the race felt good. The hills didn't feel too bad but I knew what was coming up over by the court house so I wanted to save my energy for that. By the time I got to that part of the race I was feeling it. I guess I didn't train hard enough before the race because I ended up having to walk the hills. I felt defeated by those stupid hills and what was worse was that I couldn't even pass the walkers! UGH!!!! This was a hard race for me and I was very disappointed in myself.
Today I tried out some new running shorts and a new shirt. I LOVED them! They were the shiny slick material and of course they were breast cancer awareness gear. Breast cancer awareness/support and research is my chosen charity. I will be running in this gear again.
Here's the numbers: The race was a 5k so with my Garmin messing up I don't have the exact distance but a 5k is 3.1 miles so we're going with that. It took me 34:44 (which at the time was a personal best). My average pace was 10:42. I came in 180th out of 205 and 7th out of ten in my age group. My husband told me later that if I'd run just three minutes faster I would've come in 3rd in my age group. Gee, thanks, Honey, LOL! Incidentally he backed out of running so I won the challenge by default. NOT how I wanted to win. :-(
As I said, despite my personal best I am not happy with this race. I am, however, humbled. I don't know why I thought I would do better but it just showed me that I can't get cocky. It also gave me the fire to train harder so that next year I will do better...and yes, I will do better next year. My goal is to come in first in my age group. GO ME!
Happy Running,
KEA
Thursday, September 27, 2012
On the Hamster Wheel Chasing My Tail
September 6, 2012
It's still hot and today I hit the treadmill. I decided to do my run before the kids got home from school today. That meant I had to run The Mill. How many times and how many different ways can I say it: Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring.....today was a struggle for even the mind tricks and I was grasping for them.
There's not much I can say about this run because it was incredibly boring and it was still so hot! When I got off The Mill to post to the running website my nose was still running and my heart was still pounding and I felt good.
I'm disappointed to say that my husband has backed out of the race on Saturday. My poor little heart was broken by this news and I hate winning by default but he says that he just can't run it. He's not been training and he says he knows he can't run three miles. I find that I am not as excited to run this 5k now that he won't be running. I hope I find the excitement before the race. That is, after all, what all this training is about this week.
Since this run was so boring I will keep this short. Here's the numbers: Distance was 3.17, time 38 minutes. My pace was 12:00 and that was steady and regular since I was on The Mill. I'm satisfied with this run and I feel prepared for Saturday. I'm still debating whether to run tomorrow or not since Race Day is Saturday. I guess I will make that decision tomorrow.
Happy Running!
KEA
It's still hot and today I hit the treadmill. I decided to do my run before the kids got home from school today. That meant I had to run The Mill. How many times and how many different ways can I say it: Boring, boring, boring, boring, boring.....today was a struggle for even the mind tricks and I was grasping for them.
There's not much I can say about this run because it was incredibly boring and it was still so hot! When I got off The Mill to post to the running website my nose was still running and my heart was still pounding and I felt good.
I'm disappointed to say that my husband has backed out of the race on Saturday. My poor little heart was broken by this news and I hate winning by default but he says that he just can't run it. He's not been training and he says he knows he can't run three miles. I find that I am not as excited to run this 5k now that he won't be running. I hope I find the excitement before the race. That is, after all, what all this training is about this week.
Since this run was so boring I will keep this short. Here's the numbers: Distance was 3.17, time 38 minutes. My pace was 12:00 and that was steady and regular since I was on The Mill. I'm satisfied with this run and I feel prepared for Saturday. I'm still debating whether to run tomorrow or not since Race Day is Saturday. I guess I will make that decision tomorrow.
Happy Running!
KEA
Me Mind on Fire, Me Soul on Fire, Feeling HOT HOT HOT!
September 4, 2012
Well, it may be September but it is still HOT, HOT, HOT! Tonight was cheer practice again. I hit the trail and I've decided that I do NOT like it! One circuit around the whole trail itself isn't a full mile and I don't like that. I like for one round to be a rounded distance....like for instance I know that it takes four times around the track at the high school to run a mile. This makes sense to me. I start in one place, end in that one place and that is one quarter of a mile....four quarters make a whole so four times around is one mile. This is what I refer to as round. The trail has no sense of measurement that I can make of it yet. That sentence didn't come out right....it's kind of like the "timey-wimey, wibbley-wobbley" sentence that the Doctor says got away from in the "Blink" episode of Doctor Who. I guess that sentence got away from me! What I'm trying to say is that once you've made it a mile around the trail, you are now starting from a different position and then you have to go further around to go a mile again so when you start the next mile you are starting from an even further position than when you started in the first place. This doesn't feel neat and tidy to me if that makes sense. Okay...so call me OCD. I guess I am about this. I want to start in one place and be able to make sense of the distance. But as long as we have cheer practice out here I'm stuck with "The Trail" so I will have to figure it out or just deal with it."
No mind tricks tonight. It was hot. I had to walk a little bit because the trail has a hill that darn near kicks my butt every time I run up it. It's a steep slope to start with but then it appears to level out but this is merely a Jedi mind trick because despite what your eyes tell you, you are still climbing. Then just when you think you're in the clear and you've recovered from the hill in disguise, The Trail hits you with another one and you're winded again. And before you know it you're back at the hill in disguise. Toward the end I was done in and I had to walk up the disguised hill. I was just too pooped.
I stopped at a little over two miles and crossed the street to go sit in my chair and drink a gallon of water but just as I sat down my daughter decided that she needed to go to the bathroom. Since the bathrooms are across the street, the cheer coaches don't let the girls go alone so she asked me to take her. I did and when I take her I don't cross to the portapotties. We go to the real bathroom that's further down than just across the road. After bringing her back I was feeling a little rested so I decided that since I only had about a half mile to go to finish a 5k distance (and since I did have a 5k coming up in the very near future....like about four days!) I headed back out onto The Trail again. Once I hit the 5k distance I walked a little bit to cool down.
As you all know I'm not terribly keen on walking as it feels like failure to me and I'm not really big on restarting once I've stopped as that feels like cheating but I'm feeling alright about this run. It was terribly hot out even for evening and this could account for having to walk, especially on hills. I find that when it is hot like that I end up having to walk. So I'm not so upset about having to walk this time. So, all in all, it was a good run.
Here's the numbers: My distance was 3.43 miles. I don't remember what portion of that I ran and what portion was the walk at the end. It took me 53 minutes to complete this run and my pace was 15:19, keeping in mind that this is an average by my Garmin (or the website I post my runs on; I'm not positive which is doing the averaging). I'm finding a little bit of discrepancy between the Garmin Connect and the site I post my runs on. Garmin Connect says my time was 44:30 with an average pace of 12:59 and a best pace of 8:19. While these numbers are much more attractive to me than the previous ones, I'm not going to claim as gospel. I don't understand the discrepancy since both runs were uploaded from the same device, just to different websites. I will have to look into it. At any rate it was a good run and Saturday is the Popeye Annual 5k so I will try to get a couple more runs in before racing day. I want to be ready but I don't want to over do it. I will probably take Friday off to rest.
Happy Running!
KEA
Well, it may be September but it is still HOT, HOT, HOT! Tonight was cheer practice again. I hit the trail and I've decided that I do NOT like it! One circuit around the whole trail itself isn't a full mile and I don't like that. I like for one round to be a rounded distance....like for instance I know that it takes four times around the track at the high school to run a mile. This makes sense to me. I start in one place, end in that one place and that is one quarter of a mile....four quarters make a whole so four times around is one mile. This is what I refer to as round. The trail has no sense of measurement that I can make of it yet. That sentence didn't come out right....it's kind of like the "timey-wimey, wibbley-wobbley" sentence that the Doctor says got away from in the "Blink" episode of Doctor Who. I guess that sentence got away from me! What I'm trying to say is that once you've made it a mile around the trail, you are now starting from a different position and then you have to go further around to go a mile again so when you start the next mile you are starting from an even further position than when you started in the first place. This doesn't feel neat and tidy to me if that makes sense. Okay...so call me OCD. I guess I am about this. I want to start in one place and be able to make sense of the distance. But as long as we have cheer practice out here I'm stuck with "The Trail" so I will have to figure it out or just deal with it."
No mind tricks tonight. It was hot. I had to walk a little bit because the trail has a hill that darn near kicks my butt every time I run up it. It's a steep slope to start with but then it appears to level out but this is merely a Jedi mind trick because despite what your eyes tell you, you are still climbing. Then just when you think you're in the clear and you've recovered from the hill in disguise, The Trail hits you with another one and you're winded again. And before you know it you're back at the hill in disguise. Toward the end I was done in and I had to walk up the disguised hill. I was just too pooped.
I stopped at a little over two miles and crossed the street to go sit in my chair and drink a gallon of water but just as I sat down my daughter decided that she needed to go to the bathroom. Since the bathrooms are across the street, the cheer coaches don't let the girls go alone so she asked me to take her. I did and when I take her I don't cross to the portapotties. We go to the real bathroom that's further down than just across the road. After bringing her back I was feeling a little rested so I decided that since I only had about a half mile to go to finish a 5k distance (and since I did have a 5k coming up in the very near future....like about four days!) I headed back out onto The Trail again. Once I hit the 5k distance I walked a little bit to cool down.
As you all know I'm not terribly keen on walking as it feels like failure to me and I'm not really big on restarting once I've stopped as that feels like cheating but I'm feeling alright about this run. It was terribly hot out even for evening and this could account for having to walk, especially on hills. I find that when it is hot like that I end up having to walk. So I'm not so upset about having to walk this time. So, all in all, it was a good run.
Here's the numbers: My distance was 3.43 miles. I don't remember what portion of that I ran and what portion was the walk at the end. It took me 53 minutes to complete this run and my pace was 15:19, keeping in mind that this is an average by my Garmin (or the website I post my runs on; I'm not positive which is doing the averaging). I'm finding a little bit of discrepancy between the Garmin Connect and the site I post my runs on. Garmin Connect says my time was 44:30 with an average pace of 12:59 and a best pace of 8:19. While these numbers are much more attractive to me than the previous ones, I'm not going to claim as gospel. I don't understand the discrepancy since both runs were uploaded from the same device, just to different websites. I will have to look into it. At any rate it was a good run and Saturday is the Popeye Annual 5k so I will try to get a couple more runs in before racing day. I want to be ready but I don't want to over do it. I will probably take Friday off to rest.
Happy Running!
KEA
I Went to the Animal Fair
September 3, 2012
No run today. Today my youngest daughter and I went to the zoo again. This time it was for a birthday party. Two years ago we moved from a small town to where we live now and my son and daughter had to leave their friends. My daughter has maintained one of the close friendships she had made over the years, in part due to the close friendship I have maintained with the mother of her friend. So to celebrate that friend's ten year old birthday we packed up and headed to the zoo for a safari!
We had loads of fun and of course took lots of pictures. We love going to the zoo but this time we took the safari tour that they offer. It was very inexpensive ($10) and a guide takes you to various exhibits and shares information about those exhibits. We learned a lot and had a great time.
No mileage today since I didn't wear my Garmin. I was going to but I forgot it. It was a great day and we were blessed to spend it with good friends.
Happy Running,
KEA
No run today. Today my youngest daughter and I went to the zoo again. This time it was for a birthday party. Two years ago we moved from a small town to where we live now and my son and daughter had to leave their friends. My daughter has maintained one of the close friendships she had made over the years, in part due to the close friendship I have maintained with the mother of her friend. So to celebrate that friend's ten year old birthday we packed up and headed to the zoo for a safari!
We had loads of fun and of course took lots of pictures. We love going to the zoo but this time we took the safari tour that they offer. It was very inexpensive ($10) and a guide takes you to various exhibits and shares information about those exhibits. We learned a lot and had a great time.
No mileage today since I didn't wear my Garmin. I was going to but I forgot it. It was a great day and we were blessed to spend it with good friends.
Happy Running,
KEA
Quick Note to Explain
September 27, 2012
It has been almost a month since I have posted anything and I almost didn't start tonight but I need to get back to running regularly and I need to get back to posting regularly as well and despite (or maybe it is because of) the crappy day I have had today I decided to get caught up as I have several entries to write and post.
I didn't run tonight even though it was cheer leading practice night. I didn't even take my daughter to cheer leading practice tonight. This afternoon my mother called to tell me the lump they found in her breast is most likely cancerous. Needless to say I am extremely upset and forgive me but I do believe due to this circumstance I am allowed to crawl into my shell and cry like a baby. She did call later this evening to say she isn't worried because her husband's daughter, whose mother died of breast cancer, has had the same type of lumps - my mother said the mass had "spikes" coming out from it and apparently her husband's daughter has the same type of mass - and apparently the doctors told her they are positive it is cancer only to find out they were wrong. So my mother is determined (rightfully so) to be positive about this until she has reason not to be. I will take her lead but part of me still harbors some fear and worry. I am working on letting that go and with God's help I will.
So, having gotten that off my chest, I will commence the updating of the blog in backdated chronological order because that's how I roll....
Happy Running,
KEA
It has been almost a month since I have posted anything and I almost didn't start tonight but I need to get back to running regularly and I need to get back to posting regularly as well and despite (or maybe it is because of) the crappy day I have had today I decided to get caught up as I have several entries to write and post.
I didn't run tonight even though it was cheer leading practice night. I didn't even take my daughter to cheer leading practice tonight. This afternoon my mother called to tell me the lump they found in her breast is most likely cancerous. Needless to say I am extremely upset and forgive me but I do believe due to this circumstance I am allowed to crawl into my shell and cry like a baby. She did call later this evening to say she isn't worried because her husband's daughter, whose mother died of breast cancer, has had the same type of lumps - my mother said the mass had "spikes" coming out from it and apparently her husband's daughter has the same type of mass - and apparently the doctors told her they are positive it is cancer only to find out they were wrong. So my mother is determined (rightfully so) to be positive about this until she has reason not to be. I will take her lead but part of me still harbors some fear and worry. I am working on letting that go and with God's help I will.
So, having gotten that off my chest, I will commence the updating of the blog in backdated chronological order because that's how I roll....
Happy Running,
KEA
Friday, August 31, 2012
Back To the Country
August 31, 2012
Another night of cheer leading practice and another opportunity to run in the country. This time I knew what to expect and I was better prepared. This time I brought along my sun glasses but I still haven't figured out a way to carry water without spending a bunch of money on a belt of a backpack that will weigh me down. I've to figure this one out because I've decided that running without water SUX!!!! BIG TIME!!!! Actually, I have a small backpack that I could carry an old Diet Coke bottle, one of those ones that you get at gas stations. If you fill one of those half way with water, stick it in the freezer and let it freeze then fill it with water you end up with a nice cold bottle of water that stays cold as it melts. I suppose I could do that and use that small backpack. I just don't want to carry that on my back and be more sweaty than I get. I'm also afraid it would get heavy. I don't want to add more weight to myself as well. I'll have to think about it.
So, anyway, I set out on my run again tonight after a couple of delays. I had to give my daughter insulin at practice since NaNa took the kids to McDonald's and dropped my daughter off to practice and she hadn't been able to get her insulin. Then I had to go back home and get her tennis shoes since she'd worn flip flops out to eat and needed tennis shoes for practice. When I was finally able to set out I'd almost talked myself out of the run! But I decided to go ahead and get it done. I started out and tried to be more aware of my pace when I started out. On Tuesday when I started out I was running @ a pace of 10:42 which made me super tired by the time I got farther along and hit hills, etc. I tried to be more aware of just how fast I was running. I didn't want to wear out and have to walk again. Walking feels like failure to me and I don't like failure.
Tonight's run was better than Tuesday night's. It felt better; there were less cars so there was less running in the grass but then again, I decided to just stop and wait for the car to pass instead of trying to run in the grass. It's just not worth the chance of stepping into some clump of dry dirt pile or hole and spraining my ankle. I do like the feel of the road beneath my feet and I like this route but it's just not worth it since the road seems to be busy. I won't run this route again unless my daughter has cheer practice at the gym again. I'll stick to the courthouse run or the "trail" at the sports complex where cheer practice is normally held.
I didn't have to stop or walk once tonight which made me very happy. It was still rough. I'm still running without water which as previously stated SUX BIG TIME! I do need to come up with some way to carry water. I'm probably going to have to break down and either buy a belt of just accept the fact that I am going to have to carry a backpack. I have a belt that I carry my cell phone and my driver's license in and I've tried to hook a water bottle to it but so far I've not come up with a way to do it and my engineer husband hasn't weighed in with any ideas. I guess it's going to have to be the small backpack. At any rate, I've talked enough about carrying water and need to get back to the run itself. It was a rough run but I felt good at the end. No knee pain, no back pain, no foot pain and I didn't keel over dead so that's all good, right? I am pretty happy with this run. The hills are still hard but at least I ran up them and didn't have to walk. YAY!
Tonight I ran 3.12 miles. It took me thirty-eight minutes and my average pace was 12:06. This is a tiny bit better than Tuesday. I ran a full 5k distance and my pace was just slightly better. I'll take those extra hundreths, thank you very much! I'm satisfied with this run all in all and would like to go back to that route and conquer the hills but it just doesn't seem safe with the cars and such. I have a lot going on at home tomorrow with the kids tomorrow so I guess I'll hit the treadmill tomorrow. We'll see how that goes tomorrow.
Happy Running!
KEA
Another night of cheer leading practice and another opportunity to run in the country. This time I knew what to expect and I was better prepared. This time I brought along my sun glasses but I still haven't figured out a way to carry water without spending a bunch of money on a belt of a backpack that will weigh me down. I've to figure this one out because I've decided that running without water SUX!!!! BIG TIME!!!! Actually, I have a small backpack that I could carry an old Diet Coke bottle, one of those ones that you get at gas stations. If you fill one of those half way with water, stick it in the freezer and let it freeze then fill it with water you end up with a nice cold bottle of water that stays cold as it melts. I suppose I could do that and use that small backpack. I just don't want to carry that on my back and be more sweaty than I get. I'm also afraid it would get heavy. I don't want to add more weight to myself as well. I'll have to think about it.
So, anyway, I set out on my run again tonight after a couple of delays. I had to give my daughter insulin at practice since NaNa took the kids to McDonald's and dropped my daughter off to practice and she hadn't been able to get her insulin. Then I had to go back home and get her tennis shoes since she'd worn flip flops out to eat and needed tennis shoes for practice. When I was finally able to set out I'd almost talked myself out of the run! But I decided to go ahead and get it done. I started out and tried to be more aware of my pace when I started out. On Tuesday when I started out I was running @ a pace of 10:42 which made me super tired by the time I got farther along and hit hills, etc. I tried to be more aware of just how fast I was running. I didn't want to wear out and have to walk again. Walking feels like failure to me and I don't like failure.
Tonight's run was better than Tuesday night's. It felt better; there were less cars so there was less running in the grass but then again, I decided to just stop and wait for the car to pass instead of trying to run in the grass. It's just not worth the chance of stepping into some clump of dry dirt pile or hole and spraining my ankle. I do like the feel of the road beneath my feet and I like this route but it's just not worth it since the road seems to be busy. I won't run this route again unless my daughter has cheer practice at the gym again. I'll stick to the courthouse run or the "trail" at the sports complex where cheer practice is normally held.
I didn't have to stop or walk once tonight which made me very happy. It was still rough. I'm still running without water which as previously stated SUX BIG TIME! I do need to come up with some way to carry water. I'm probably going to have to break down and either buy a belt of just accept the fact that I am going to have to carry a backpack. I have a belt that I carry my cell phone and my driver's license in and I've tried to hook a water bottle to it but so far I've not come up with a way to do it and my engineer husband hasn't weighed in with any ideas. I guess it's going to have to be the small backpack. At any rate, I've talked enough about carrying water and need to get back to the run itself. It was a rough run but I felt good at the end. No knee pain, no back pain, no foot pain and I didn't keel over dead so that's all good, right? I am pretty happy with this run. The hills are still hard but at least I ran up them and didn't have to walk. YAY!
Tonight I ran 3.12 miles. It took me thirty-eight minutes and my average pace was 12:06. This is a tiny bit better than Tuesday. I ran a full 5k distance and my pace was just slightly better. I'll take those extra hundreths, thank you very much! I'm satisfied with this run all in all and would like to go back to that route and conquer the hills but it just doesn't seem safe with the cars and such. I have a lot going on at home tomorrow with the kids tomorrow so I guess I'll hit the treadmill tomorrow. We'll see how that goes tomorrow.
Happy Running!
KEA
Country Roads, Take Me Home....
August 28, 2012
My youngest daughter had cheer leading practice tonight at the local gym so I decided to gather my running gear and go run while she learned how to stand on the other girls' shoulders. The gym is on the outskirts of town and there's a back road out there so I decided I would see where it led. I found out that it is half a mile from the gym to the skating rink and from the skating rink to the old folks' home is another half mile. Another half mile then I turned around and came back to give me a full three miles today.
This was really rough because even though it was evening it was still really hot. On top of that this road is super hilly and a couple of the hills are rather steep. I ended up having to walk for quite a bit as I was worn out; I didn't have anywhere to stop for water and I wasn't carrying any. I was super thirsty and super tired. I felt like one of those cartoons where they crawl across the desert going "Water......water.......water....." It wasn't a pretty sight, that's for sure!
There's not a whole lot I can say about this run. It was really hard and I had to stop and walk. I liked the route but at the same time I didn't like it because there were no sidewalks so I had to run on the road. I didn't think that the road would be busy that time of night but it was and every time a car came I would have to get off the road and run in the grass. That was a little difficult because the ground is super bumpy with dirt clots and hidden holes, etc. I kept twisting my foot or stumbling on stuff. So I'd run in the grass until the cars passed then I'd go back to the road and run a pace. Then another car would come and I'd have to get back in the grass again. Blah, blah, blah.....didn't like that. I like the way the road feels under my feet but I guess I prefer running on a sidewalk because I don't have to keep getting in the grass.
I was exhausted when I was done but I did do a full three miles and even though I had to walk it took me just a minute or two longer than my standard three mile time. This is because when I started off I started off with a faster pace. I'm pretty sure that's what contributed to my running out of energy too quickly too.
All in all a good run. I ran 3.03 miles. It took me 37 minutes and my average pace was 12:10. That looks a lot better than it felt!
On to the next run!
Happy Running!
KEA
My youngest daughter had cheer leading practice tonight at the local gym so I decided to gather my running gear and go run while she learned how to stand on the other girls' shoulders. The gym is on the outskirts of town and there's a back road out there so I decided I would see where it led. I found out that it is half a mile from the gym to the skating rink and from the skating rink to the old folks' home is another half mile. Another half mile then I turned around and came back to give me a full three miles today.
This was really rough because even though it was evening it was still really hot. On top of that this road is super hilly and a couple of the hills are rather steep. I ended up having to walk for quite a bit as I was worn out; I didn't have anywhere to stop for water and I wasn't carrying any. I was super thirsty and super tired. I felt like one of those cartoons where they crawl across the desert going "Water......water.......water....." It wasn't a pretty sight, that's for sure!
There's not a whole lot I can say about this run. It was really hard and I had to stop and walk. I liked the route but at the same time I didn't like it because there were no sidewalks so I had to run on the road. I didn't think that the road would be busy that time of night but it was and every time a car came I would have to get off the road and run in the grass. That was a little difficult because the ground is super bumpy with dirt clots and hidden holes, etc. I kept twisting my foot or stumbling on stuff. So I'd run in the grass until the cars passed then I'd go back to the road and run a pace. Then another car would come and I'd have to get back in the grass again. Blah, blah, blah.....didn't like that. I like the way the road feels under my feet but I guess I prefer running on a sidewalk because I don't have to keep getting in the grass.
I was exhausted when I was done but I did do a full three miles and even though I had to walk it took me just a minute or two longer than my standard three mile time. This is because when I started off I started off with a faster pace. I'm pretty sure that's what contributed to my running out of energy too quickly too.
All in all a good run. I ran 3.03 miles. It took me 37 minutes and my average pace was 12:10. That looks a lot better than it felt!
On to the next run!
Happy Running!
KEA
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
3.166......Torture
August 27, 2012
Today was a flop day to start with. I didn't sleep well last night. Went to bed around 2:00 which I keep telling myself I will stop doing (and look at me now, up late again....) so when it came to getting up today it was rough. Got up to get kids ready for school and then went back to bed because I just wasn't feeling well but I couldn't sleep. My sister in law texted me this morning and then I got to thinking about what she was texting me about and finally fell asleep. I slept until 1:30 OMGoodness I did NOT intend to do that. I then remembered that I had to get my daughter's test strips refilled at the pharmacy. My husband asked me to stop at the doctor's office to pick up a sports physical form for his son who wanted to go out for cross country and had to have the form to school by today. So, I stopped at WalMart, dropped off the prescription then headed to the doctor's office. Went back to WalMart, picked up a few things and the prescription. Drove to the school, dropped off the form, picked up an insurance waiver form, found out my husband's son forgot to take the check to pay for cross country. Went to the car, called my husband to tell him I would come back home and pick up the check since I didn't have a checkbook in my purse, found out he was on his way to the school on his bicycle so I just headed home....already I felt like I put in a full day even though I really hadn't. Got home, put a load of laundry in the dryer and sat down to recap on my plans for the day. So far in my day nothing had gone to plan. Kids got home from school and we realized my husband's son (after all that running around to get all the ducks in the row so he could go to practice today) had come home and not gone to cross country practice. UGH! So.....after all this I remembered I wanted to get a run in sometime.
It was getting late and my daughter was hungry so I decided to go ahead and cook some supper. I had planned on having cube steaks, butter noodles, blueberry muffins, and corn but the cube steaks turned out to be bad so I had to go with Plan B. I found some hamburgers in the freezer, fried them up and decided to hit the treadmill. Unfortunately, my iPod was on the fritz and it was low battery so I plugged it in to charge it up and wait for my daughter to finish her supper so we could give her insulin. By this time it was almost 8:00 and I was feeling like skipping my run altogether but something in me kicked and wouldn't let me skip since I've already skipped two days and have been feeling guilty about it. So I begrudgingly got up out of my chair and dragged the treadmill out and fired her up.
My intention was to run four miles at 5.0 MPH and figured it would take me 48 minutes since I know that pace at 5.0 MPH is 12:00 which means I'm running a mile in twelve minutes so four times twelve is forty-eight minutes. That was my plan.....yeah, right. I got on there and quite frankly, I wanted to quit at half a mile. What? How did I get so out of shape? I was out of breath and I just wanted to quit. But I'm not quitter so I figured I'd have to use some pretty distracting mental tricks. Unfortunately, I was fresh out of those and the only thing I could do to keep myself distracted was to count. I counted seconds, I counted tenths of a mile, I counted anything I could think of to count. There's several different minute counts: There's the actual count the seconds in a minute minute count. Then there's the how many minutes do I have to go minute count. There's the how many minutes left to run a mile, how many to run half a mile minute count. Then there's the count to one hundred to calculate the mile. So much counting but the whole thing is to distract myself from the torture of this run. It was awful....just awful and I wanted to stop so badly but I didn't. I'm glad I didn't. I just couldn't let myself off easy.
So here's the breakdown because I just don't want to talk about this horrible run anymore. I ran on the treadmill tonight because it was getting late and I knew if I ran outside I wouldn't do a full three miles. I ran with the treadmill incline set at 2.0, running @ 5.0 MPH. My pace was 12:00 and I ran a total of 3.166 miles. It took me 38 minutes exactly. I would've stopped at 3.1 miles but it was an odd number and I prefer to stop at a round even number. Silly, I know but there it is...another one of my quirks. I'm glad to be done with this run, both running it and talking about it. I prefer to never think about this one again but I know that wouldn't be very productive because it's runs like these that help me remember not to quit so I won't have to start all over again and have to go through the awfulness of how this felt again.
Happy Running!
KEA
Today was a flop day to start with. I didn't sleep well last night. Went to bed around 2:00 which I keep telling myself I will stop doing (and look at me now, up late again....) so when it came to getting up today it was rough. Got up to get kids ready for school and then went back to bed because I just wasn't feeling well but I couldn't sleep. My sister in law texted me this morning and then I got to thinking about what she was texting me about and finally fell asleep. I slept until 1:30 OMGoodness I did NOT intend to do that. I then remembered that I had to get my daughter's test strips refilled at the pharmacy. My husband asked me to stop at the doctor's office to pick up a sports physical form for his son who wanted to go out for cross country and had to have the form to school by today. So, I stopped at WalMart, dropped off the prescription then headed to the doctor's office. Went back to WalMart, picked up a few things and the prescription. Drove to the school, dropped off the form, picked up an insurance waiver form, found out my husband's son forgot to take the check to pay for cross country. Went to the car, called my husband to tell him I would come back home and pick up the check since I didn't have a checkbook in my purse, found out he was on his way to the school on his bicycle so I just headed home....already I felt like I put in a full day even though I really hadn't. Got home, put a load of laundry in the dryer and sat down to recap on my plans for the day. So far in my day nothing had gone to plan. Kids got home from school and we realized my husband's son (after all that running around to get all the ducks in the row so he could go to practice today) had come home and not gone to cross country practice. UGH! So.....after all this I remembered I wanted to get a run in sometime.
It was getting late and my daughter was hungry so I decided to go ahead and cook some supper. I had planned on having cube steaks, butter noodles, blueberry muffins, and corn but the cube steaks turned out to be bad so I had to go with Plan B. I found some hamburgers in the freezer, fried them up and decided to hit the treadmill. Unfortunately, my iPod was on the fritz and it was low battery so I plugged it in to charge it up and wait for my daughter to finish her supper so we could give her insulin. By this time it was almost 8:00 and I was feeling like skipping my run altogether but something in me kicked and wouldn't let me skip since I've already skipped two days and have been feeling guilty about it. So I begrudgingly got up out of my chair and dragged the treadmill out and fired her up.
My intention was to run four miles at 5.0 MPH and figured it would take me 48 minutes since I know that pace at 5.0 MPH is 12:00 which means I'm running a mile in twelve minutes so four times twelve is forty-eight minutes. That was my plan.....yeah, right. I got on there and quite frankly, I wanted to quit at half a mile. What? How did I get so out of shape? I was out of breath and I just wanted to quit. But I'm not quitter so I figured I'd have to use some pretty distracting mental tricks. Unfortunately, I was fresh out of those and the only thing I could do to keep myself distracted was to count. I counted seconds, I counted tenths of a mile, I counted anything I could think of to count. There's several different minute counts: There's the actual count the seconds in a minute minute count. Then there's the how many minutes do I have to go minute count. There's the how many minutes left to run a mile, how many to run half a mile minute count. Then there's the count to one hundred to calculate the mile. So much counting but the whole thing is to distract myself from the torture of this run. It was awful....just awful and I wanted to stop so badly but I didn't. I'm glad I didn't. I just couldn't let myself off easy.
So here's the breakdown because I just don't want to talk about this horrible run anymore. I ran on the treadmill tonight because it was getting late and I knew if I ran outside I wouldn't do a full three miles. I ran with the treadmill incline set at 2.0, running @ 5.0 MPH. My pace was 12:00 and I ran a total of 3.166 miles. It took me 38 minutes exactly. I would've stopped at 3.1 miles but it was an odd number and I prefer to stop at a round even number. Silly, I know but there it is...another one of my quirks. I'm glad to be done with this run, both running it and talking about it. I prefer to never think about this one again but I know that wouldn't be very productive because it's runs like these that help me remember not to quit so I won't have to start all over again and have to go through the awfulness of how this felt again.
Happy Running!
KEA
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Inspiration 3
August 26, 2012
Here I am, up late again. I know I should go to bed but I know that if I do I will just lie there and toss and turn. I want to sleep but I won't so I might as well share another (the last) round of inspirations. I'll just dive in with no further ado...
"The real purpose of running isn't to win a race; it's to test the limits of the human heart." Bill Bowerman I have shared how I am amazed at what my body is capable of. This inspiration expresses that amazement. A couple of weeks ago I was working on a new training program that I have since dropped for reasons (excuses) previously blogged about but will take up once again in the very near future. When I was reading about the program I was floored at the requirement....sixty minutes, running? Seriously? But I got up on the treadmill and I did it. I DID IT! Running! YES!!!! While it was a test of my ability to play the mental game that running is to me, it was also a test of the ability of my body. And while that's not my heart specifically it's close enough. And that's if we interpret this inspiration literally. Let's talk about what we mean when we say "the heart". When we say "My heart belongs to so and so" we don't mean that person literally owns the physical organ that pumps blood through our veins. That would be creepy. We mean that we love that person with the very core of our existence. Right? So when we say running tests the limits of the heart we mean it tests what we are made up of, deep in the core of our being. How much can you stand? How much can you push yourself through? How strong are you, not just physically but mentally, emotionally and spiritually? That's what I like about this inspiration. It gets at the very essence of the mental game that running is to me. It tests my ability to push myself though.
"Run Hard & Be Nice To People" Okay, so this isn't really an inspiration; it's more of a moral code. Well, not the run hard part. That part just reminds me to be strong and keep going. The be nice part is the moral code part. I realize being nice has nothing to do with running, unless running helps you be nice to people but as a person, living my life day to day I strive to be nice. I firmly believe if more people were dedicated to being nice this world would be a better place to live in. Let me give you an example. My husband and I went to Tunica for a weekend get away a few years before we were married. My husband is a professional poker player so when we go away for a weekend get away we often go to Vegas or Tunica or somewhere he can play live since he plays mainly online. At the casinos and hotels with casinos you can often sign up for a card that looks somewhat like a debit card that you use when you play the games at the casinos or buy something from the hotel shops. You give the dealer your card (or swipe it in the slot machine) and it collects points that you can then trade in for goodies at the casino or hotel like free dinners or whatever. My husband was signing up for one of these cards and the woman behind the counter was in a cranky mood and while she wasn't rude or mean to us we could just tell that she was having a bad day. I began talking with her and discovered that her small son was sick with the flu and she had been up with him all night. She also had to work late that night and wasn't able to be home with him. She was tired and worried about her son and that made her cranky. Just by talking with her and sharing that I understood how she felt we were able to cheer her up and when we left her counter she had a smile on her face. Just by being nice. If more people took the time to think about things from someone else's point of view we might be able to understand what makes each other tick and we might be more apt to be more tolerant of people and their point of view. In lieu of the upcoming elections and the dissonance between Republicans and Democrats with the polar opposite view points this particular "inspiration" is something we all want to think about. You don't have to agree with someone or even like their opinion or point of view but let's try to understand each other and just plain be nice!
"If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today was your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass. There is no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run." John Bingham I love this. This gives me permission to call myself a runner even though I've only been doing this for less than a year and even though I've stopped and restarted so many times I've lost count. I am a runner. John Bingham says so, LOL!!!! This makes me feel better about my low mileage and my slow pace. I am a runner! I don't have to join a club. I don't have to take a test or join a gym. I can run anywhere. I can run any time. I don't have to prove anything to anyone but myself. I don't have to go to some bureau to take a physical test or a written test. I can call myself a runner no matter what. This is so simple and so beautiful in its simplicity! I am a runner.
The last one I want to share with you is this:
I mean, who doesn't love pie? Seriously though....this one reminds me that I need to reward myself once in a while for good behavior because you must reward yourself. :-)
Happy Running and let's have some PIE!
KEA
P.S. That is NOT me in the picture; I don't know who she is but she is pretty and I would certainly trade looks with her!
Here I am, up late again. I know I should go to bed but I know that if I do I will just lie there and toss and turn. I want to sleep but I won't so I might as well share another (the last) round of inspirations. I'll just dive in with no further ado...
"The real purpose of running isn't to win a race; it's to test the limits of the human heart." Bill Bowerman I have shared how I am amazed at what my body is capable of. This inspiration expresses that amazement. A couple of weeks ago I was working on a new training program that I have since dropped for reasons (excuses) previously blogged about but will take up once again in the very near future. When I was reading about the program I was floored at the requirement....sixty minutes, running? Seriously? But I got up on the treadmill and I did it. I DID IT! Running! YES!!!! While it was a test of my ability to play the mental game that running is to me, it was also a test of the ability of my body. And while that's not my heart specifically it's close enough. And that's if we interpret this inspiration literally. Let's talk about what we mean when we say "the heart". When we say "My heart belongs to so and so" we don't mean that person literally owns the physical organ that pumps blood through our veins. That would be creepy. We mean that we love that person with the very core of our existence. Right? So when we say running tests the limits of the heart we mean it tests what we are made up of, deep in the core of our being. How much can you stand? How much can you push yourself through? How strong are you, not just physically but mentally, emotionally and spiritually? That's what I like about this inspiration. It gets at the very essence of the mental game that running is to me. It tests my ability to push myself though.
"Run Hard & Be Nice To People" Okay, so this isn't really an inspiration; it's more of a moral code. Well, not the run hard part. That part just reminds me to be strong and keep going. The be nice part is the moral code part. I realize being nice has nothing to do with running, unless running helps you be nice to people but as a person, living my life day to day I strive to be nice. I firmly believe if more people were dedicated to being nice this world would be a better place to live in. Let me give you an example. My husband and I went to Tunica for a weekend get away a few years before we were married. My husband is a professional poker player so when we go away for a weekend get away we often go to Vegas or Tunica or somewhere he can play live since he plays mainly online. At the casinos and hotels with casinos you can often sign up for a card that looks somewhat like a debit card that you use when you play the games at the casinos or buy something from the hotel shops. You give the dealer your card (or swipe it in the slot machine) and it collects points that you can then trade in for goodies at the casino or hotel like free dinners or whatever. My husband was signing up for one of these cards and the woman behind the counter was in a cranky mood and while she wasn't rude or mean to us we could just tell that she was having a bad day. I began talking with her and discovered that her small son was sick with the flu and she had been up with him all night. She also had to work late that night and wasn't able to be home with him. She was tired and worried about her son and that made her cranky. Just by talking with her and sharing that I understood how she felt we were able to cheer her up and when we left her counter she had a smile on her face. Just by being nice. If more people took the time to think about things from someone else's point of view we might be able to understand what makes each other tick and we might be more apt to be more tolerant of people and their point of view. In lieu of the upcoming elections and the dissonance between Republicans and Democrats with the polar opposite view points this particular "inspiration" is something we all want to think about. You don't have to agree with someone or even like their opinion or point of view but let's try to understand each other and just plain be nice!
"If you run, you are a runner. It doesn't matter how fast or how far. It doesn't matter if today was your first day or if you've been running for twenty years. There is no test to pass. There is no license to earn, no membership card to get. You just run." John Bingham I love this. This gives me permission to call myself a runner even though I've only been doing this for less than a year and even though I've stopped and restarted so many times I've lost count. I am a runner. John Bingham says so, LOL!!!! This makes me feel better about my low mileage and my slow pace. I am a runner! I don't have to join a club. I don't have to take a test or join a gym. I can run anywhere. I can run any time. I don't have to prove anything to anyone but myself. I don't have to go to some bureau to take a physical test or a written test. I can call myself a runner no matter what. This is so simple and so beautiful in its simplicity! I am a runner.
The last one I want to share with you is this:
I mean, who doesn't love pie? Seriously though....this one reminds me that I need to reward myself once in a while for good behavior because you must reward yourself. :-)
Happy Running and let's have some PIE!
KEA
P.S. That is NOT me in the picture; I don't know who she is but she is pretty and I would certainly trade looks with her!
Friday, August 24, 2012
Inspiration 2
August 24, 2012
It's been a couple of weeks since I started sharing about my inspiration so I thought I would continue where I left off. I will share another three of the pictures with words of inspiration that I've posted on my Facebook and share why they inspire me and/or what I get out of them.
"BE A HILL SEEKER. Most of us try to avoid hills, but what's so good about flat? Think about it: flat tires, flat hair, flat returns and the ultimate - flatlining. Life happens on the hills. They are opportunities to prove to yourself that you're stronger than you imagined. If you never attempt the ascent, then you'll never know the thrill swooshing down the other side." Now, as I have shared many times the hills are what get to me. It's on the hills that I want to give up and choose an easier route or go back to the track or even the dreaded treadmill. But let's face it, it is on the hills that you prove what you are worth. It's on the hills that we find that reserve of energy or that extra push that we need to get us to the top and when you are at the top, you feel that sense of accomplishment, the knowledge that you did it and how far does that go to keep you moving? Yeah, you know it! The hills are goals to me, both in running and in real life. Life situations that are tough or unpleasant or down right unbearable are like hills. You keep climbing because, well, because what's the alternative? Giving up? Nope, not for me. I will keep climbing. I will seek the hills and I will conquer them.
"The voice that is in your head that says you can't do this is a liar." This one is very important to me. This is the one that I turn to so often because that voice is very loud in my head. It screams at me in almost every life situation and I have to constantly tune it out. Mark Schultz, a Christian singer/song writer, wrote a song called "Child of Mine". One of my favorite lines in this song says "When I am alone at night, that is when I hear the lie, you'll never be enough." This is a feeling I have to fight almost constantly. That is why I turn to this inspiration more often than any of the others. I have a BIG fear of failure because I feel like I've not accomplished much in my life and well, sometimes it just feels like everything I touch turns to poop. I know this isn't the case but sometimes when I look back on things I've tried to do and have failed at it makes me want to not try. It makes me afraid to try. Like writing....why I won't sit down and write that book that so many people have told me to write. Like running. This is why running is so important to me, why this blog is so important to me. In a way it's my way of tuning out that voice that says "you can't do this and you'll never be enough." If I could have mural of any one of these inspiration painted on my wall it would be this one because it reminds me that yes, I can; and yes, I will and yes, I am
"This is where I take out my frustrations, my fears, my sadness, my insecurities. This is where I run to find my faith, my hopes, my dreams, my happiness. This is where I belong." Let's take this one in two parts. The first part about taking out frustrations, fears, sadness & insecurities is something we actually used to teach our clients when I was a counselor for people with chronic mental illness. One of the coping skills we taught was exercise. It's no big secret that exercise releases endorphins which can lead to a sense of well being. But let me take that a step further. Running allows me time to think. I posted a blog a few weeks ago about running after a fight with my husband. When I returned from my run I wasn't magically cured of my anger or my sadness. A run or any form of exercise won't solve problems or anything miraculous like that. What it did do was give me the opportunity to calm down and to think more clearly about the situation and to be more open to solutions when my husband and I were ready to discuss them. I wasn't as angry as I was to start with and I was more prepared to discuss the situation in a civil manner. This is what running does for me. Now the second half, the bit about finding faith, hope, dreams and happiness. While I haven't conjured up the winning lottery numbers (Okay, yes, I do dream about that....so who doesn't?) this does confirm that other people feel that same sense of spirituality that I do while running. There's just something about being out in the air, whether you are running on the street or in the woods surrounded by God's creations that brings you closer to God and closer to your inner spirit. Call me crazy if you want but try and you'll see. Even when I'm running with my headphones on there's just something about feeling my body move and feeling what my body is capable of that makes me feel more about myself. That's the best way I can describe it. And my happiness, well, aside from the things that are truly important to me, my husband, my children, my grand daughter, my family, yes, my happiness is running. Take that away from me and I would feel a little like nothing more than just a nobody. Yes, running is my happiness; it's one piece of who I am and yes, that is where I belong.
Those are three more inspirations that help me focus on my running and well, and on life too because it isn't all about running. It's also about living life to the fullest and being everything I can be in every part of my life, isn't it?
Happy Running!
KEA
It's been a couple of weeks since I started sharing about my inspiration so I thought I would continue where I left off. I will share another three of the pictures with words of inspiration that I've posted on my Facebook and share why they inspire me and/or what I get out of them.
"BE A HILL SEEKER. Most of us try to avoid hills, but what's so good about flat? Think about it: flat tires, flat hair, flat returns and the ultimate - flatlining. Life happens on the hills. They are opportunities to prove to yourself that you're stronger than you imagined. If you never attempt the ascent, then you'll never know the thrill swooshing down the other side." Now, as I have shared many times the hills are what get to me. It's on the hills that I want to give up and choose an easier route or go back to the track or even the dreaded treadmill. But let's face it, it is on the hills that you prove what you are worth. It's on the hills that we find that reserve of energy or that extra push that we need to get us to the top and when you are at the top, you feel that sense of accomplishment, the knowledge that you did it and how far does that go to keep you moving? Yeah, you know it! The hills are goals to me, both in running and in real life. Life situations that are tough or unpleasant or down right unbearable are like hills. You keep climbing because, well, because what's the alternative? Giving up? Nope, not for me. I will keep climbing. I will seek the hills and I will conquer them.
"The voice that is in your head that says you can't do this is a liar." This one is very important to me. This is the one that I turn to so often because that voice is very loud in my head. It screams at me in almost every life situation and I have to constantly tune it out. Mark Schultz, a Christian singer/song writer, wrote a song called "Child of Mine". One of my favorite lines in this song says "When I am alone at night, that is when I hear the lie, you'll never be enough." This is a feeling I have to fight almost constantly. That is why I turn to this inspiration more often than any of the others. I have a BIG fear of failure because I feel like I've not accomplished much in my life and well, sometimes it just feels like everything I touch turns to poop. I know this isn't the case but sometimes when I look back on things I've tried to do and have failed at it makes me want to not try. It makes me afraid to try. Like writing....why I won't sit down and write that book that so many people have told me to write. Like running. This is why running is so important to me, why this blog is so important to me. In a way it's my way of tuning out that voice that says "you can't do this and you'll never be enough." If I could have mural of any one of these inspiration painted on my wall it would be this one because it reminds me that yes, I can; and yes, I will and yes, I am
"This is where I take out my frustrations, my fears, my sadness, my insecurities. This is where I run to find my faith, my hopes, my dreams, my happiness. This is where I belong." Let's take this one in two parts. The first part about taking out frustrations, fears, sadness & insecurities is something we actually used to teach our clients when I was a counselor for people with chronic mental illness. One of the coping skills we taught was exercise. It's no big secret that exercise releases endorphins which can lead to a sense of well being. But let me take that a step further. Running allows me time to think. I posted a blog a few weeks ago about running after a fight with my husband. When I returned from my run I wasn't magically cured of my anger or my sadness. A run or any form of exercise won't solve problems or anything miraculous like that. What it did do was give me the opportunity to calm down and to think more clearly about the situation and to be more open to solutions when my husband and I were ready to discuss them. I wasn't as angry as I was to start with and I was more prepared to discuss the situation in a civil manner. This is what running does for me. Now the second half, the bit about finding faith, hope, dreams and happiness. While I haven't conjured up the winning lottery numbers (Okay, yes, I do dream about that....so who doesn't?) this does confirm that other people feel that same sense of spirituality that I do while running. There's just something about being out in the air, whether you are running on the street or in the woods surrounded by God's creations that brings you closer to God and closer to your inner spirit. Call me crazy if you want but try and you'll see. Even when I'm running with my headphones on there's just something about feeling my body move and feeling what my body is capable of that makes me feel more about myself. That's the best way I can describe it. And my happiness, well, aside from the things that are truly important to me, my husband, my children, my grand daughter, my family, yes, my happiness is running. Take that away from me and I would feel a little like nothing more than just a nobody. Yes, running is my happiness; it's one piece of who I am and yes, that is where I belong.
Those are three more inspirations that help me focus on my running and well, and on life too because it isn't all about running. It's also about living life to the fullest and being everything I can be in every part of my life, isn't it?
Happy Running!
KEA
And So It Begins......Again
August 23, 2012
Here I am hanging my head in shame. It's been probably about two weeks, if not longer, since I last put foot to pavement or even stepped on the treadmill. I've thought about it but my get up and go seemed to have got up and left town....or maybe even the country! I have even neglected to write which is just as bad because if I don't write my brain will atrophy. See, I have this theory that if you don't use your brain, it will atrophy just like muscles that don't get use. So the less you do, the stupider you get. Well, okay, so that was a bit harsh, but come on, it was a little funny, wasn't it? Okay....I'm digressing. I do tend to do that once in a while. My point is, I've not wanted to have anything to do with running for a while and now I'm feeling thoroughly ashamed. I do have some excuses though. Would you like to hear them?
1) The house has been full of kids and our schedule has been completely off. Every summer my husband's son who lives in another state comes to stay with us for the second half of the summer. That puts us at having four kids in the house and quite frankly that's a lot of kid chaos. Plus this summer we somehow got our days and nights mixed up so we were sleeping super late in the day (and I mean SUPER late like two or so in the afternoon!) and we were all up super late at night (as in until three or four in the morning!). So everything was all topsy turvy and mixed up. If you think that doesn't do something to your system, try it for a while and see. I had absolutely NO energy. Hmmmm.....wait a minute. Perhaps I should list that as one of my excuses. Yes, I think I will.
2) Over the summer we got our days and nights mixed up. See sentences four through seven of the previous excuse, or I could reiterate. Let me reiterate. When I'm sleeping late in the day and up all night it messes with my system. I felt incredibly drained and didn't want to get out of bed. I didn't even want to do household chores, let alone get out and run three miles.
3) No air conditioning in the house means no cooking means no good food. The only air conditioning we have in our house is two window units in our dining room. These are used to cool the entire downstairs which is where we all live in the summer. Since it's the only air conditioning we have we do everything we can to keep the house cool. It's an old house, over a hundred years old, so the walls are very thick and it does stay cooler than most houses but we try to avoid things like heating up the oven or even cooking on the stove. It does tend to increase the temperature in the house and we try to avoid that at all costs. So, we don't eat real meals in the summer. Without proper nutrition my body feels crappy and I'm sure that contributes to the lack of energy.
3) School just started. School started last Friday. This led to a frantic scramble to get ready, buying supplies, etc. I can't believe how unprepared I was for this event! It's like I've been in a dream state for three months and all of sudden I was rudely awakened. What a strange feeling. I'd been so disorganized and sluggish then all of a sudden reality came screaming back. BAM! School's in session again!
4) All of sudden we got really busy. Right before school started my youngest daughter started cheer leading practice and then school started and all of sudden we have places to be and things to do. Which in reality is one of the things that brought me back to running.
So, there's my excuses. And here's what made me lace up the Addias again. Cheer leading practice and the Popeye Picnic Annual 5k. Okay....so you've heard so much about this silly little 5k but to be honest, it's what's gotten me back up out of my chair. Well, that and my daughter's cheer leading practice. The girls practice out at the place where all the baseball and soccer fields are. Around the fields is this "trail" of sidewalks. It occurred to me that the race is coming up quickly; it's September 8 and if I don't prepare I won't be able to finish let alone beat my husband. And we all know how important it is for me to beat my husband, don't we? LOL! So it occurred to me that while my daughter is practicing her cheer leading "G O Stinger let's go!" I could be getting some miles in and preparing for this upcoming race. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what I did tonight.
My computer said it was 92 degrees at around 5:45 this evening but I was determined. I need to get in shape and I've neglected running for so long I knew it was going to be tough. I've talked repeatedly about how running is mental for me and to me the first mental game is getting myself up out of my chair and into the run. I almost gave up today. The kids get home from school around 3:15 and I was in the middle of a painting project. I ran out of primer and needed to run to the store to pick up a gallon. I also needed to get some dinner going and done since we had to leave at 5:50 to get to cheer leading practice on time. I was cutting is super close and by the time it was time to leave my daughter wasn't finished eating. We hadn't given insulin and we were rushed. We forgot our cold drinks and had to go back and get them and I was about to just forget the whole thing but I'd gone to so much trouble to get everything together that I wouldn't let myself. See, mental games again. If you put a value on how much trouble you've gone to in order to do something then it's more important to you to accomplish what you've set out to do. After all, it took you so much time to prepare for it, you might as well get it done. We got to the fields and realized we'd forgotten the diabetes bag. I've spent a couple of weeks watching cheer practice and decided that cheer practice wasn't so active that it would cause a major dip in blood sugar and I had my phone with me so I decided to go ahead and run before I decided not to do it altogether.
I started out. It was hot. It was super hot. And I was out of shape. Super out of shape. I've said it before and I will say it again, it's amazing how quickly you lose the gains you've achieved. It's incredible. On top of that I started out too hard and too fast. I believe my pace was about 10:50 when I first looked at my Garmin. Holy cow! I knew I needed to slow down or I was going to bust. I tried, I really did but when I hit the first hill I put on a burst of speed (had I lost my mind or what?) and pushed on. UGH! I made it to the next hill which wasn't much further from the first and this one was steep and continual. I kept going. I knew I had to keep going but it was hot. It was super hot. And I didn't have anything with me to drink. I left my water in the car because I really didn't think there would be anywhere to put it and I was right. On top of that, there's no water fountains along the "trail". It was rough going but I made it around the first round and felt very pleased with myself until I realize that I had made one and a quarter rounds and still hadn't put in even one mile. This was going to be some form of torture. And it was. I found a fountain by the bathrooms of one of the fields but it didn't work and had to satisfy my thirst with water from the bathroom faucet. I splashed my face and took a few drinks of water and headed back out. I was determined to get in two miles at least. The more I ran the more parched I became and when my Garmin beeped my second mile I knew I had to quit. I intended to walk another mile but I was just too hot and too thirsty and I wanted to check on my daughter so I walked from where I was to where cheer practice was being held. I grabbed my keys from where I'd stashed them with my daughter and walked to the car and then back to the tennis court (where practice was held) and set up my lawn chair, collapsed and drank my fill of ice cold water. I did forget to turn off my Garmin for a couple minutes so that time was added to my run. Oh well. I was tired and thirsty.....I have forgiven myself for forgetting.
All in all, I have mixed feelings about this run. There was another runner on the trail and several walkers. I found myself trying to compare myself to her. She was much faster than me and I had to remind myself not to be upset about that. I haven't run since August 9. I'm out of shape and out of practice. I have to give myself time to rebuild and get back in the swing. I also had to remind myself not to be aggravated with myself about my pace which I felt was a walk with a bounce. My Garmin calculated my overall pace at 14:32 which is really poopy but to be honest that is an average and includes the walking. My average running pace was 12:32. Yes, it is slower than my treadmill pace, well, it's slower than my courthouse run pace as well but again, I've not run since August 9. It was hot; this was an unfamiliar course and it had hills....killer hills. I need to cut myself a break. So while I'm not happy with the overall (I should say average) pace, I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I'm going to congratulate myself for getting back out there. I'm going to be pleased that I've got no pain in my knees and ankles and I'm going to get back out there again.
Some thoughts on the new route. I didn't like the sidewalk. I don't know why. I'm sure it's psychological. It's not much different than running on the sidewalks to the courthouse and back, only smoother without having to watch for sidewalks cracked and sticking up wanting to trip me and make me twist my ankles but I just didn't like the feel beneath my feet. I'm going to have to get used to them. I wish the trail was longer. I wish one time around was at least a mile. When I'd made it around one circuit to the place I had started I had only run about .7 miles. I'm going to have to figure out how far one mile is exactly. It's another one of the mental games I play with myself. I need to know where the mile mark is. It helps keep me going. Finally, it's like running on the track again. It's basically a circle even though it's more of a flattened square. It's just a loop around and around and around. It's kind of boring....well, it's boring with hills thrown in for a bit of torture. Joy. I'm going to have to get used to it. I am going to be spending a lot of time out there during cheer leading practice season. I might as well find something to like about it. I will be looking for something to like about it.
Here's the breakdown: I ran 2.54 miles. My average pace (with the walking included - walking from the bathrooms of the closest baseball field to the tennis court, into the tennis court to get my keys, then to my car and back to just outside the tennis court) was 14:32. The pace makes me unhappy but it was a rough run. I'm glad I got out there and got it done.
I want to end with one final thought. One of my friends on my running website posted this comment: "I love running. Running, I love you and I hope to never leave you." I couldn't agree more and when I read this comment I realized this sums up my feelings for running. I love to run. I never want to stop running. I never want to stop running even for two weeks again. I don't want to stop for even two days. I want to keep running...especially since getting back in running shape is so rough when I do stop!
Happy Running!
KEA
Here I am hanging my head in shame. It's been probably about two weeks, if not longer, since I last put foot to pavement or even stepped on the treadmill. I've thought about it but my get up and go seemed to have got up and left town....or maybe even the country! I have even neglected to write which is just as bad because if I don't write my brain will atrophy. See, I have this theory that if you don't use your brain, it will atrophy just like muscles that don't get use. So the less you do, the stupider you get. Well, okay, so that was a bit harsh, but come on, it was a little funny, wasn't it? Okay....I'm digressing. I do tend to do that once in a while. My point is, I've not wanted to have anything to do with running for a while and now I'm feeling thoroughly ashamed. I do have some excuses though. Would you like to hear them?
1) The house has been full of kids and our schedule has been completely off. Every summer my husband's son who lives in another state comes to stay with us for the second half of the summer. That puts us at having four kids in the house and quite frankly that's a lot of kid chaos. Plus this summer we somehow got our days and nights mixed up so we were sleeping super late in the day (and I mean SUPER late like two or so in the afternoon!) and we were all up super late at night (as in until three or four in the morning!). So everything was all topsy turvy and mixed up. If you think that doesn't do something to your system, try it for a while and see. I had absolutely NO energy. Hmmmm.....wait a minute. Perhaps I should list that as one of my excuses. Yes, I think I will.
2) Over the summer we got our days and nights mixed up. See sentences four through seven of the previous excuse, or I could reiterate. Let me reiterate. When I'm sleeping late in the day and up all night it messes with my system. I felt incredibly drained and didn't want to get out of bed. I didn't even want to do household chores, let alone get out and run three miles.
3) No air conditioning in the house means no cooking means no good food. The only air conditioning we have in our house is two window units in our dining room. These are used to cool the entire downstairs which is where we all live in the summer. Since it's the only air conditioning we have we do everything we can to keep the house cool. It's an old house, over a hundred years old, so the walls are very thick and it does stay cooler than most houses but we try to avoid things like heating up the oven or even cooking on the stove. It does tend to increase the temperature in the house and we try to avoid that at all costs. So, we don't eat real meals in the summer. Without proper nutrition my body feels crappy and I'm sure that contributes to the lack of energy.
3) School just started. School started last Friday. This led to a frantic scramble to get ready, buying supplies, etc. I can't believe how unprepared I was for this event! It's like I've been in a dream state for three months and all of sudden I was rudely awakened. What a strange feeling. I'd been so disorganized and sluggish then all of a sudden reality came screaming back. BAM! School's in session again!
4) All of sudden we got really busy. Right before school started my youngest daughter started cheer leading practice and then school started and all of sudden we have places to be and things to do. Which in reality is one of the things that brought me back to running.
So, there's my excuses. And here's what made me lace up the Addias again. Cheer leading practice and the Popeye Picnic Annual 5k. Okay....so you've heard so much about this silly little 5k but to be honest, it's what's gotten me back up out of my chair. Well, that and my daughter's cheer leading practice. The girls practice out at the place where all the baseball and soccer fields are. Around the fields is this "trail" of sidewalks. It occurred to me that the race is coming up quickly; it's September 8 and if I don't prepare I won't be able to finish let alone beat my husband. And we all know how important it is for me to beat my husband, don't we? LOL! So it occurred to me that while my daughter is practicing her cheer leading "G O Stinger let's go!" I could be getting some miles in and preparing for this upcoming race. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what I did tonight.
My computer said it was 92 degrees at around 5:45 this evening but I was determined. I need to get in shape and I've neglected running for so long I knew it was going to be tough. I've talked repeatedly about how running is mental for me and to me the first mental game is getting myself up out of my chair and into the run. I almost gave up today. The kids get home from school around 3:15 and I was in the middle of a painting project. I ran out of primer and needed to run to the store to pick up a gallon. I also needed to get some dinner going and done since we had to leave at 5:50 to get to cheer leading practice on time. I was cutting is super close and by the time it was time to leave my daughter wasn't finished eating. We hadn't given insulin and we were rushed. We forgot our cold drinks and had to go back and get them and I was about to just forget the whole thing but I'd gone to so much trouble to get everything together that I wouldn't let myself. See, mental games again. If you put a value on how much trouble you've gone to in order to do something then it's more important to you to accomplish what you've set out to do. After all, it took you so much time to prepare for it, you might as well get it done. We got to the fields and realized we'd forgotten the diabetes bag. I've spent a couple of weeks watching cheer practice and decided that cheer practice wasn't so active that it would cause a major dip in blood sugar and I had my phone with me so I decided to go ahead and run before I decided not to do it altogether.
I started out. It was hot. It was super hot. And I was out of shape. Super out of shape. I've said it before and I will say it again, it's amazing how quickly you lose the gains you've achieved. It's incredible. On top of that I started out too hard and too fast. I believe my pace was about 10:50 when I first looked at my Garmin. Holy cow! I knew I needed to slow down or I was going to bust. I tried, I really did but when I hit the first hill I put on a burst of speed (had I lost my mind or what?) and pushed on. UGH! I made it to the next hill which wasn't much further from the first and this one was steep and continual. I kept going. I knew I had to keep going but it was hot. It was super hot. And I didn't have anything with me to drink. I left my water in the car because I really didn't think there would be anywhere to put it and I was right. On top of that, there's no water fountains along the "trail". It was rough going but I made it around the first round and felt very pleased with myself until I realize that I had made one and a quarter rounds and still hadn't put in even one mile. This was going to be some form of torture. And it was. I found a fountain by the bathrooms of one of the fields but it didn't work and had to satisfy my thirst with water from the bathroom faucet. I splashed my face and took a few drinks of water and headed back out. I was determined to get in two miles at least. The more I ran the more parched I became and when my Garmin beeped my second mile I knew I had to quit. I intended to walk another mile but I was just too hot and too thirsty and I wanted to check on my daughter so I walked from where I was to where cheer practice was being held. I grabbed my keys from where I'd stashed them with my daughter and walked to the car and then back to the tennis court (where practice was held) and set up my lawn chair, collapsed and drank my fill of ice cold water. I did forget to turn off my Garmin for a couple minutes so that time was added to my run. Oh well. I was tired and thirsty.....I have forgiven myself for forgetting.
All in all, I have mixed feelings about this run. There was another runner on the trail and several walkers. I found myself trying to compare myself to her. She was much faster than me and I had to remind myself not to be upset about that. I haven't run since August 9. I'm out of shape and out of practice. I have to give myself time to rebuild and get back in the swing. I also had to remind myself not to be aggravated with myself about my pace which I felt was a walk with a bounce. My Garmin calculated my overall pace at 14:32 which is really poopy but to be honest that is an average and includes the walking. My average running pace was 12:32. Yes, it is slower than my treadmill pace, well, it's slower than my courthouse run pace as well but again, I've not run since August 9. It was hot; this was an unfamiliar course and it had hills....killer hills. I need to cut myself a break. So while I'm not happy with the overall (I should say average) pace, I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I'm going to congratulate myself for getting back out there. I'm going to be pleased that I've got no pain in my knees and ankles and I'm going to get back out there again.
Some thoughts on the new route. I didn't like the sidewalk. I don't know why. I'm sure it's psychological. It's not much different than running on the sidewalks to the courthouse and back, only smoother without having to watch for sidewalks cracked and sticking up wanting to trip me and make me twist my ankles but I just didn't like the feel beneath my feet. I'm going to have to get used to them. I wish the trail was longer. I wish one time around was at least a mile. When I'd made it around one circuit to the place I had started I had only run about .7 miles. I'm going to have to figure out how far one mile is exactly. It's another one of the mental games I play with myself. I need to know where the mile mark is. It helps keep me going. Finally, it's like running on the track again. It's basically a circle even though it's more of a flattened square. It's just a loop around and around and around. It's kind of boring....well, it's boring with hills thrown in for a bit of torture. Joy. I'm going to have to get used to it. I am going to be spending a lot of time out there during cheer leading practice season. I might as well find something to like about it. I will be looking for something to like about it.
Here's the breakdown: I ran 2.54 miles. My average pace (with the walking included - walking from the bathrooms of the closest baseball field to the tennis court, into the tennis court to get my keys, then to my car and back to just outside the tennis court) was 14:32. The pace makes me unhappy but it was a rough run. I'm glad I got out there and got it done.
I want to end with one final thought. One of my friends on my running website posted this comment: "I love running. Running, I love you and I hope to never leave you." I couldn't agree more and when I read this comment I realized this sums up my feelings for running. I love to run. I never want to stop running. I never want to stop running even for two weeks again. I don't want to stop for even two days. I want to keep running...especially since getting back in running shape is so rough when I do stop!
Happy Running!
KEA
Monday, August 13, 2012
Inspiration
August 13, 2012
So last night, or rather early this morning, I was working on a Facebook page for this blog and I was uploading a bunch of pictures that have inspirational sayings on them. I began to think about inspiration and what inspires me. I was looking at the pictures I added to the page and thinking about what I wanted to say in the description portion. The description portion of a Facebook page picture doesn't give you enough space to really explain why you like the particular saying or rather what about that particular saying inspires you. So I thought I'd use the next few blogs to explain exactly what inspires me about each one.
"No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everybody on the couch." This one just makes me feel better about myself because it really is true. One thing that bothers me about myself is that I'm slow. For me being slow feels like failure and I'm very hard on myself. This keeps me balanced and reminds me that being slow isn't failure; it's beginning. Even if I am slower than I want to be, I'm faster than anyone who is still sitting on the couch. If I can inspire anyone who is still sitting on the couch, that would inspire me.
"Keep calm & run on" This reminds me that running is one of my favorite forms of destressing. A couple weeks ago when I was upset after an argument with my husband I grabbed my running shoes and hit the streets. When I returned from my run, my head was clear and I was able to think without my emotions getting in the way. I believe that running can be something spiritual if you can understand what that means. If you can't understand it, let me see if I can try to explain it a little better. When you think of spirituality you immediately think of religion. And since I'm a very religious person I would normally agree. But when I say spiritual in this case I'm talking about the feeling that you get when you are doing whatever you do when you worship. That feeling of peace when you pray or sing or read your Bible. For me, running is one way to bring me closer to God. I know that probably sounds kind of corny but I feel like when I am trying to improve my body I am bringing myself closer to God. I don't feel like I'm explaining how I feel well but I'm trying. Running, you are alone in your head, even while you are listening to music. You are in tune with your body and being that connected to your thoughts and the physicality of your body is a very personal and introspective experience. That is spiritual to me.
"I guarantee that if you give up now, you will give it another shot someday. Maybe in a month. Maybe 6 days. Maybe even 14. But I know you want this and you won't stop until you get it. So don't stop NOW. Because when you start again you're going to look and think "Why the hell didn't I keep going?" It'll be hard now or it'll be hard later. YOU PICK." This might seem self explanatory and quite frankly, it is. You know how you feel when something is hard and you want to give up? Yeah, thought so. So I do. I am going through it right now. You want something but it's hard and you don't like hard and you want to quit. Hard isn't fun.....well, yeah, it isn't fun but you want this. You WANT this. You know I'm right. So why quit now? You're just going to start again and let me tell you something. It's not just going to be hard later; it's going to be a lot harder later. Wanna know how I know this? I'll tell you! I've stopped before. And you would be amazed at how quickly you lose what you've gained once you stopped. When I stop it's always twice as hard to start up again. When I stop, then I'm one of the ones who are on the couch and who's lapping me? I don't want to be the one being lapped. I want to be the one doing the lapping. I always regret when I stop because it does feel like failure and failure to me is not an option. The lesson here? Don't stop; keep going. This is what inspires me about this one.
So, these are the first three inspirations I wanted to share with you all. What inspires you?
Happy Running!
KEA
So last night, or rather early this morning, I was working on a Facebook page for this blog and I was uploading a bunch of pictures that have inspirational sayings on them. I began to think about inspiration and what inspires me. I was looking at the pictures I added to the page and thinking about what I wanted to say in the description portion. The description portion of a Facebook page picture doesn't give you enough space to really explain why you like the particular saying or rather what about that particular saying inspires you. So I thought I'd use the next few blogs to explain exactly what inspires me about each one.
"No matter how slow you go, you are still lapping everybody on the couch." This one just makes me feel better about myself because it really is true. One thing that bothers me about myself is that I'm slow. For me being slow feels like failure and I'm very hard on myself. This keeps me balanced and reminds me that being slow isn't failure; it's beginning. Even if I am slower than I want to be, I'm faster than anyone who is still sitting on the couch. If I can inspire anyone who is still sitting on the couch, that would inspire me.
"Keep calm & run on" This reminds me that running is one of my favorite forms of destressing. A couple weeks ago when I was upset after an argument with my husband I grabbed my running shoes and hit the streets. When I returned from my run, my head was clear and I was able to think without my emotions getting in the way. I believe that running can be something spiritual if you can understand what that means. If you can't understand it, let me see if I can try to explain it a little better. When you think of spirituality you immediately think of religion. And since I'm a very religious person I would normally agree. But when I say spiritual in this case I'm talking about the feeling that you get when you are doing whatever you do when you worship. That feeling of peace when you pray or sing or read your Bible. For me, running is one way to bring me closer to God. I know that probably sounds kind of corny but I feel like when I am trying to improve my body I am bringing myself closer to God. I don't feel like I'm explaining how I feel well but I'm trying. Running, you are alone in your head, even while you are listening to music. You are in tune with your body and being that connected to your thoughts and the physicality of your body is a very personal and introspective experience. That is spiritual to me.
"I guarantee that if you give up now, you will give it another shot someday. Maybe in a month. Maybe 6 days. Maybe even 14. But I know you want this and you won't stop until you get it. So don't stop NOW. Because when you start again you're going to look and think "Why the hell didn't I keep going?" It'll be hard now or it'll be hard later. YOU PICK." This might seem self explanatory and quite frankly, it is. You know how you feel when something is hard and you want to give up? Yeah, thought so. So I do. I am going through it right now. You want something but it's hard and you don't like hard and you want to quit. Hard isn't fun.....well, yeah, it isn't fun but you want this. You WANT this. You know I'm right. So why quit now? You're just going to start again and let me tell you something. It's not just going to be hard later; it's going to be a lot harder later. Wanna know how I know this? I'll tell you! I've stopped before. And you would be amazed at how quickly you lose what you've gained once you stopped. When I stop it's always twice as hard to start up again. When I stop, then I'm one of the ones who are on the couch and who's lapping me? I don't want to be the one being lapped. I want to be the one doing the lapping. I always regret when I stop because it does feel like failure and failure to me is not an option. The lesson here? Don't stop; keep going. This is what inspires me about this one.
So, these are the first three inspirations I wanted to share with you all. What inspires you?
Happy Running!
KEA
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Under the Moonlight
August 9, 2012
As I was running tonight I was thinking about what I wanted to talk about in tonight's blog. I'm tired of writing the basics about my running and I'm beginning to think it's boring to read. I've talked about my training and my mileage and the tricks I use to keep my mind occupied and how many times can I talk about the run itself? It's boring but the bottom line is this is a blog about running and it's kind of my daily running diary so it looks like I'm stuck writing about running. However, I can share the things that go through my mind as I'm running.
So tonight's training called for thirty minutes of "easy." I'm still a little having a little trouble with easy. The book I'm reading says "conversational pace." I run alone so to determine if I'm at conversation pace every once in a while I sing a bit to make sure I can sing and run without losing anything....breath, lunch, tune, whatever. For me that's a pace of about 13:00. This running at easy pace is still hard for me. I want to be fast. To me a pace of 13:00 isn't fast. But the book was written by someone who knows running and knows running fast so I'm trusting he will improve my time if I follow his advice. Since I'm a beginner I'm trusting the expert.
This blog is temporarily interrupted to express a intense love and adoration to my husband sitting in the chair next to me. I was happily typing along and somehow deleted EVERYTHING I had just typed and was in the process of having a small little moment of frustration when he calmly says to me "Didn't CTRL Z bring it back?" I hit CTRL Z and miraculously everything I had typed reappeared, magically before my very eyes. I looked at him with adoration and said "I love you." He made kissy faces at me and all is well in the blogging world and I learned a new trick to save me when I accident delete everything I type. Yay! We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog!
So, as I said before I so rudely deleted my typing, today's training called for thirty minutes at an easy, conversational pace. I put my run off for a very long time today. I don't know why I was dreading it so much. I think because I was originally planning to do this on the treadmill. The treadmill is in the living and right now the kids are living in the living room. See, we don't have central air right now (that is another story altogether and I will share it another time); we only have two window units in our dining room cooling off the entire lower level of our house. We have four children and they are sleeping on the couches in the living room. They spend all their time in the living room, playing video games, watching TV, etc. and the living room and despite parental intervention the living room is almost always one step away from being a complete and total disaster area! This makes for an unpleasant running experience and reminds me that tomorrow we need to have a serious clean up! So after putting off my run for a very long time (which also may or may not have something to do with House Hunters, Property Brothers and My First Place being on HGTV earlier this evening) before I knew it, it was 8:00 PM. I looked out the window and it was looking a little dark. I didn't realize it was starting to get dark early so soon! I thought about it and went outside to check the temperature. It felt wonderful so I got out the Garmin and set it up to go for an outdoor run.
I set out and felt pretty good except for a little pain in my left knee although after a while it went away. I took the usual court house run with the run around the back. By the time I got to the court house and was heading around the back it was a little darker than twilight. I found out though that I really like running at night. Unfortunately it's not really safe for a woman to run alone at night, even in a small town. I think I've said that on the way back I always head back on the opposite side of the street than I start on. Well, I must tell you that this just may be a mistake. You see on the opposite side of the street is all the shops and such that line the main street of the town. One of the businesses that is on that side of the road is a restaurant that has recently opened. It's a sort of Italian type restaurant. One of the local families' sons went to culinary school and came back home and opened this restaurant. We've eaten there once and the food was pretty good. The problem here is that when I run by the restaurant it smells delicious! I want to stop and chow down! Perhaps I should change my route? LOL!!!
So all in all this was a good run. I felt good aside from the slight pain in my knee. I ran 2.34 miles in thirty minutes. My average pace was 12:50 which as I've said makes me unhappy but I have to keep in mind that this training isn't about speed, well, it IS about speed but it's more about endurance in order to improve speed. So I have to keep that in mind while I'm recording my mileage and pace. So, I've learned tonight that I really enjoy running at night. It feels like I'm on an adventure but I probably shouldn't do this very often. It's just not safe to run by oneself at night even in a small town. Tomorrow's training calls for a thirty minute jog or rest. I do believe I will opt for the jog even though tomorrow is trivia night. I will have to find a way to fit it in.
Happy Running!
KEA
As I was running tonight I was thinking about what I wanted to talk about in tonight's blog. I'm tired of writing the basics about my running and I'm beginning to think it's boring to read. I've talked about my training and my mileage and the tricks I use to keep my mind occupied and how many times can I talk about the run itself? It's boring but the bottom line is this is a blog about running and it's kind of my daily running diary so it looks like I'm stuck writing about running. However, I can share the things that go through my mind as I'm running.
So tonight's training called for thirty minutes of "easy." I'm still a little having a little trouble with easy. The book I'm reading says "conversational pace." I run alone so to determine if I'm at conversation pace every once in a while I sing a bit to make sure I can sing and run without losing anything....breath, lunch, tune, whatever. For me that's a pace of about 13:00. This running at easy pace is still hard for me. I want to be fast. To me a pace of 13:00 isn't fast. But the book was written by someone who knows running and knows running fast so I'm trusting he will improve my time if I follow his advice. Since I'm a beginner I'm trusting the expert.
This blog is temporarily interrupted to express a intense love and adoration to my husband sitting in the chair next to me. I was happily typing along and somehow deleted EVERYTHING I had just typed and was in the process of having a small little moment of frustration when he calmly says to me "Didn't CTRL Z bring it back?" I hit CTRL Z and miraculously everything I had typed reappeared, magically before my very eyes. I looked at him with adoration and said "I love you." He made kissy faces at me and all is well in the blogging world and I learned a new trick to save me when I accident delete everything I type. Yay! We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog!
So, as I said before I so rudely deleted my typing, today's training called for thirty minutes at an easy, conversational pace. I put my run off for a very long time today. I don't know why I was dreading it so much. I think because I was originally planning to do this on the treadmill. The treadmill is in the living and right now the kids are living in the living room. See, we don't have central air right now (that is another story altogether and I will share it another time); we only have two window units in our dining room cooling off the entire lower level of our house. We have four children and they are sleeping on the couches in the living room. They spend all their time in the living room, playing video games, watching TV, etc. and the living room and despite parental intervention the living room is almost always one step away from being a complete and total disaster area! This makes for an unpleasant running experience and reminds me that tomorrow we need to have a serious clean up! So after putting off my run for a very long time (which also may or may not have something to do with House Hunters, Property Brothers and My First Place being on HGTV earlier this evening) before I knew it, it was 8:00 PM. I looked out the window and it was looking a little dark. I didn't realize it was starting to get dark early so soon! I thought about it and went outside to check the temperature. It felt wonderful so I got out the Garmin and set it up to go for an outdoor run.
I set out and felt pretty good except for a little pain in my left knee although after a while it went away. I took the usual court house run with the run around the back. By the time I got to the court house and was heading around the back it was a little darker than twilight. I found out though that I really like running at night. Unfortunately it's not really safe for a woman to run alone at night, even in a small town. I think I've said that on the way back I always head back on the opposite side of the street than I start on. Well, I must tell you that this just may be a mistake. You see on the opposite side of the street is all the shops and such that line the main street of the town. One of the businesses that is on that side of the road is a restaurant that has recently opened. It's a sort of Italian type restaurant. One of the local families' sons went to culinary school and came back home and opened this restaurant. We've eaten there once and the food was pretty good. The problem here is that when I run by the restaurant it smells delicious! I want to stop and chow down! Perhaps I should change my route? LOL!!!
So all in all this was a good run. I felt good aside from the slight pain in my knee. I ran 2.34 miles in thirty minutes. My average pace was 12:50 which as I've said makes me unhappy but I have to keep in mind that this training isn't about speed, well, it IS about speed but it's more about endurance in order to improve speed. So I have to keep that in mind while I'm recording my mileage and pace. So, I've learned tonight that I really enjoy running at night. It feels like I'm on an adventure but I probably shouldn't do this very often. It's just not safe to run by oneself at night even in a small town. Tomorrow's training calls for a thirty minute jog or rest. I do believe I will opt for the jog even though tomorrow is trivia night. I will have to find a way to fit it in.
Happy Running!
KEA
Just Keep Running, Just Keep Running....
August 8, 2012
Well, last week my training got messed up. I went up to watch Poppy on Friday. Friday was supposed to be a rest day anyway and we had dinner with my mom, my oldest daughter and my youngest daughter. We were celebrating my mom's birthday which was the 7th. I had planned on bringing Poppy home with us Friday night but my daughter wanted me to watch her on Saturday and keep her over night so we planned on coming up Saturday morning to pick her up. That meant that I was going to miss Saturday's training unless Poppy gave me the opportunity to get some running in. She didn't. On Sunday which was the day that called for 75 minutes of "easy" running we ended up going up to my daddy's house to go to church and spend time with the family up there. They don't get to see Poppy very often. So the training got off track but I was determined to get back with it this week. Unfortunately, Monday's training was missed because we ended up running errands all day. UGH! It wasn't looking good. I was determined to get with it today!
Tuesday's running on the schedule calls for sixty minutes of "easy" running. I learned my lesson last week and started out this long session with the treadmill set at 4.4 mph. It was feeling too light so I kicked the incline up to 2.0. That felt better. This was a pretty good run. I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be. I believe last time I talked about the mental tricks that I use to keep myself going. Today I divided up my time into ten minute segments. I count down the ten minutes. I try really hard not to watch the numbers on the mill itself but I can't help it. I can't watch TV or look at a point on the wall like some people can. I feel like I'm falling off if I'm not looking at the machine in some way. This is silly but it's one of those mental things again. It also helps me keep track of whether I'm keeping track of time accurately. Yet another mental game I play. I'm always counting down something, be it mileage or time or even how many songs it will take to finish. I always over estimate so I am happily surprised when I have less to go than I figured. This is a classic Star Trek "Scotty" trick. Scotty says to over estimate to the captain so he thinks you're wonderful when you under deliver. Scotty was a genius, yeah? LOL!
So today's run was uneventful and of course since it was on the mill, it was boring. Oh well. It's better than running in the heat. Today I started out with the treadmill at 4.4 mph with the incline set at 1.5 (default setting) but I quickly raised up the incline to 2.0. One of my goals is to keep increasing the incline as well. I know 2.0 isn't that impressive but it's a start, yeah? So I kept the speed at 4.4 mph until the last nine minutes. Then I kicked it up to 5.0. At 4.4 mph the pace is 13:38 and that give me gave me a little under four miles. At a speed of 5.0 mph the pace is 12:00 and that gave me just over half a mile. I ended up running 4.512 miles and I ran for 60:02. I don't like the treadmill (as I think we have established in previous blogs) but I really don't know where I would run for an hour (since running the hills in town is so intimidating) other than the track which I believe would be equally boring and it's still rather hot so for now the treadmill is going to have to be it for the longer runs. Tomorrow's run calls for thirty minutes of "easy" running. Perhaps we will do this outside. I want to find somewhere new to run but I think while I'm in training is not the best time to be exploring new routes. We will stick with the courthouse run I think. Sooner or later I'm going to have to get out there and run the actual 5k route. I think I should probably do that the last couple weeks of August. That will give me a good idea how hilly it is going to be. If I can do some training on the actual route itself I can know about what my time will be. And getting back outside will give me the chance to play with my Garmin again. Have I mentioned how much I love my Garmin? I supposed I have!
At any rate, it's pretty late so I better get to bed.
Happy Running!
KEA
Well, last week my training got messed up. I went up to watch Poppy on Friday. Friday was supposed to be a rest day anyway and we had dinner with my mom, my oldest daughter and my youngest daughter. We were celebrating my mom's birthday which was the 7th. I had planned on bringing Poppy home with us Friday night but my daughter wanted me to watch her on Saturday and keep her over night so we planned on coming up Saturday morning to pick her up. That meant that I was going to miss Saturday's training unless Poppy gave me the opportunity to get some running in. She didn't. On Sunday which was the day that called for 75 minutes of "easy" running we ended up going up to my daddy's house to go to church and spend time with the family up there. They don't get to see Poppy very often. So the training got off track but I was determined to get back with it this week. Unfortunately, Monday's training was missed because we ended up running errands all day. UGH! It wasn't looking good. I was determined to get with it today!
Tuesday's running on the schedule calls for sixty minutes of "easy" running. I learned my lesson last week and started out this long session with the treadmill set at 4.4 mph. It was feeling too light so I kicked the incline up to 2.0. That felt better. This was a pretty good run. I wasn't as tired as I thought I would be. I believe last time I talked about the mental tricks that I use to keep myself going. Today I divided up my time into ten minute segments. I count down the ten minutes. I try really hard not to watch the numbers on the mill itself but I can't help it. I can't watch TV or look at a point on the wall like some people can. I feel like I'm falling off if I'm not looking at the machine in some way. This is silly but it's one of those mental things again. It also helps me keep track of whether I'm keeping track of time accurately. Yet another mental game I play. I'm always counting down something, be it mileage or time or even how many songs it will take to finish. I always over estimate so I am happily surprised when I have less to go than I figured. This is a classic Star Trek "Scotty" trick. Scotty says to over estimate to the captain so he thinks you're wonderful when you under deliver. Scotty was a genius, yeah? LOL!
So today's run was uneventful and of course since it was on the mill, it was boring. Oh well. It's better than running in the heat. Today I started out with the treadmill at 4.4 mph with the incline set at 1.5 (default setting) but I quickly raised up the incline to 2.0. One of my goals is to keep increasing the incline as well. I know 2.0 isn't that impressive but it's a start, yeah? So I kept the speed at 4.4 mph until the last nine minutes. Then I kicked it up to 5.0. At 4.4 mph the pace is 13:38 and that give me gave me a little under four miles. At a speed of 5.0 mph the pace is 12:00 and that gave me just over half a mile. I ended up running 4.512 miles and I ran for 60:02. I don't like the treadmill (as I think we have established in previous blogs) but I really don't know where I would run for an hour (since running the hills in town is so intimidating) other than the track which I believe would be equally boring and it's still rather hot so for now the treadmill is going to have to be it for the longer runs. Tomorrow's run calls for thirty minutes of "easy" running. Perhaps we will do this outside. I want to find somewhere new to run but I think while I'm in training is not the best time to be exploring new routes. We will stick with the courthouse run I think. Sooner or later I'm going to have to get out there and run the actual 5k route. I think I should probably do that the last couple weeks of August. That will give me a good idea how hilly it is going to be. If I can do some training on the actual route itself I can know about what my time will be. And getting back outside will give me the chance to play with my Garmin again. Have I mentioned how much I love my Garmin? I supposed I have!
At any rate, it's pretty late so I better get to bed.
Happy Running!
KEA
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Day Two: Endurance, Endurance, Endurance
August 1, 2012
As I said I started a new training program yesterday. The goal of this training is to increase my speed by increasing my endurance. I posted before that this kind of makes sense but I won't be a believer until I see some improvements in both endurance and speed.
Today's workout called for sixty "easy" minutes. I decided to do this on the treadmill because it was so hot out and I really didn't want to do sixty minutes on the street with the hills. I didn't want to wear myself out and not make the whole sixty minutes. I knew if I wore out I would give up and I wouldn't do all the time. This would feel like failure to me and I didn't want to fail. I decided to hit the mill to avoid the guilt. This is what proves to me that to me, that to me running is just as psychological as it is physical. I can mentally talk myself into being stronger. I wish I could figure out a way to talk myself into being more excited. I guess I'm just in another blue funk.
So, as I said today's workout called for sixty minutes at "easy." I wasn't sure what "easy" meant so I set the mill at my usual 5.0 mph with the incline set at 2.0. My usual mill workout has me running a 5k distance. I always run the first mile at 5.6 mph and then turn it down to 5.0 for the last 2.1 miles. I keep the incline set at 2.0 for the whole run. That is my usual mill run. Today I wanted to keep it at 5.0 mph with the incline set at 2.0 for the whole run. I was determined not to switch up the run in any way. I did okay to start with. I knew this was going to be tough. The mill is boring and an hour is a long time when you are used to running only a little over half an hour. I haven't been on the treadmill for an hour since I started working on it back before I got married.....and during that time I was walking, not running. I knew this was going to be boring but I was determined. It started out okay. I did the 5k mileage at 5.0 mph with the incline set at 2.0 but I was getting tired. I had to keep talking to myself, marking off time in increments, counting down time backwards and forwards and taking it in chunks of ten minutes or half miles, any trick I could think of to keep me going. At a speed of 5.0 mph (12:00 pace) it takes me thirty-seven minutes to run 3.1 miles. After that I had twenty-one minutes left to run. I was feeling the run and I was getting tired. This is the point where my mind games really needed to keep me going. I had to slow down the speed. I set it at 4.0 to see if that would help me recover. That was either too slow or too fast. I still can't decide. At my level of tiredness it was too fast to walk and it was too slow to run. I decided to kick it up. I set it at 4.4 mph and ran it at that for the last twenty-one minutes. It seemed to work.
Overall I was pleased with this run. I didn't know if I would have the endurance to run for sixty minutes and I was pleased that even though I had to slow down at the end I was able to run the whole sixty minutes. I stopped the mil at 1.5 miles for a quick drink of water, then again at 3.1 miles for another drink. This is one of the psychological games I play. I give myself a set amount of miles to run before I can have a drink. It divides the time up and gives me a distraction. It's similar to when you are running on the street. When you are running on the street you tell yourself you can make it to the next lamp post or to the next landmark. It's all psychological but it helps you keep going. Anyway, I was pleased with this run. I made it through the whole time with a couple stops for drinks and with only the slight adjustment in mph. The goal here, as with yesterday's run was not about mileage (although I was so close to 5 miles I was incredibly tempted to continue to meet that personal goal) it was about minutes. The plan called for sixty minutes at the easy pace so I kept it at sixty minutes. Besides, I was tired. I felt good despite being tired. I ran sixty minutes, something I didn't think I would be able to do and I proved to myself that I could.
I ran 4.72 miles @ 5.0 and 4.4 mph with a pace of 12:00 and 13:38. This averages out to a pace of 12:42 according to the running website I post my workouts on. I ran for sixty minutes. I felt good after my workout, sweaty and glad to be done with the mill but I didn't hurt and I didn't feel like I wouldn't be able to move tomorrow.
Tomorrow's run calls for thirty minutes of "easy". I can do that at the 5.0 speed.
Happy Running!
KEA
As I said I started a new training program yesterday. The goal of this training is to increase my speed by increasing my endurance. I posted before that this kind of makes sense but I won't be a believer until I see some improvements in both endurance and speed.
Today's workout called for sixty "easy" minutes. I decided to do this on the treadmill because it was so hot out and I really didn't want to do sixty minutes on the street with the hills. I didn't want to wear myself out and not make the whole sixty minutes. I knew if I wore out I would give up and I wouldn't do all the time. This would feel like failure to me and I didn't want to fail. I decided to hit the mill to avoid the guilt. This is what proves to me that to me, that to me running is just as psychological as it is physical. I can mentally talk myself into being stronger. I wish I could figure out a way to talk myself into being more excited. I guess I'm just in another blue funk.
So, as I said today's workout called for sixty minutes at "easy." I wasn't sure what "easy" meant so I set the mill at my usual 5.0 mph with the incline set at 2.0. My usual mill workout has me running a 5k distance. I always run the first mile at 5.6 mph and then turn it down to 5.0 for the last 2.1 miles. I keep the incline set at 2.0 for the whole run. That is my usual mill run. Today I wanted to keep it at 5.0 mph with the incline set at 2.0 for the whole run. I was determined not to switch up the run in any way. I did okay to start with. I knew this was going to be tough. The mill is boring and an hour is a long time when you are used to running only a little over half an hour. I haven't been on the treadmill for an hour since I started working on it back before I got married.....and during that time I was walking, not running. I knew this was going to be boring but I was determined. It started out okay. I did the 5k mileage at 5.0 mph with the incline set at 2.0 but I was getting tired. I had to keep talking to myself, marking off time in increments, counting down time backwards and forwards and taking it in chunks of ten minutes or half miles, any trick I could think of to keep me going. At a speed of 5.0 mph (12:00 pace) it takes me thirty-seven minutes to run 3.1 miles. After that I had twenty-one minutes left to run. I was feeling the run and I was getting tired. This is the point where my mind games really needed to keep me going. I had to slow down the speed. I set it at 4.0 to see if that would help me recover. That was either too slow or too fast. I still can't decide. At my level of tiredness it was too fast to walk and it was too slow to run. I decided to kick it up. I set it at 4.4 mph and ran it at that for the last twenty-one minutes. It seemed to work.
Overall I was pleased with this run. I didn't know if I would have the endurance to run for sixty minutes and I was pleased that even though I had to slow down at the end I was able to run the whole sixty minutes. I stopped the mil at 1.5 miles for a quick drink of water, then again at 3.1 miles for another drink. This is one of the psychological games I play. I give myself a set amount of miles to run before I can have a drink. It divides the time up and gives me a distraction. It's similar to when you are running on the street. When you are running on the street you tell yourself you can make it to the next lamp post or to the next landmark. It's all psychological but it helps you keep going. Anyway, I was pleased with this run. I made it through the whole time with a couple stops for drinks and with only the slight adjustment in mph. The goal here, as with yesterday's run was not about mileage (although I was so close to 5 miles I was incredibly tempted to continue to meet that personal goal) it was about minutes. The plan called for sixty minutes at the easy pace so I kept it at sixty minutes. Besides, I was tired. I felt good despite being tired. I ran sixty minutes, something I didn't think I would be able to do and I proved to myself that I could.
I ran 4.72 miles @ 5.0 and 4.4 mph with a pace of 12:00 and 13:38. This averages out to a pace of 12:42 according to the running website I post my workouts on. I ran for sixty minutes. I felt good after my workout, sweaty and glad to be done with the mill but I didn't hurt and I didn't feel like I wouldn't be able to move tomorrow.
Tomorrow's run calls for thirty minutes of "easy". I can do that at the 5.0 speed.
Happy Running!
KEA
New Training Program No Clever Title
July 31, 2012
So....after the last run I have been feeling very apathetic about running. I bought a book to help me learn how to run faster and I decided to implement one of the suggested training programs in one of the first chapters of the book. The premise is that if you increase your endurance you will increase your speed. I understand the concept; it kind of makes sense but I'm not convinced yet. I think this is because I'm still feeling very unmotivated. I wish I could fix that but for now I just don't know what to do about it.
So the first run in the program called for thirty minutes of "jogging". I believe this is supposed to be "race pace". I took the normal Courthouse run with the circle around the back of the courthouse. It was pretty hot and I had originally thought about hitting the treadmill instead of heading outside but I did go ahead and decide to hit the road. I have been told that once you hit the streets you will prefer them to the treadmill. I didn't believe that until I really had hit the streets and now I understand it and I agree. I have been very vocal about how boring the treadmill is so yeah, that's would be me preferring the street to the treadmill. So if there's even a remote possibility that I can run outside I will.
It was hot out but it wasn't completely unbearable. I ran the first mile with no problem but I haven't been out or on the mill for a few days and it's amazing how quickly you fall out of shape. I'm finding that if I miss more than two days I lose what I've gained and I have to start over. I haven't run for several days and with the lack of enthusiasm I've lost quite a bit of my "edge". After rounding behind the courthouse and stopping at the first water fountain I was wearing down and I had to walk. I walked most of the way home. I was worn out. My time suffered and I was feeling upset at myself for having to walk on the first day of training that is supposed to help me increase my speed.
The method of measurement here is minutes, not miles so even though I will be recording mileage and pace, etc as usual, the main focus here is minutes. Here's the breakdown: I ran 2.4 miles. My average pace was 13:22 and I ran for 32 minutes. My fastest pace was 10:57. I stopped twice for water at the two different water fountains in town. I ended up walking the last mile and I was exhausted.
I am completely dissatisfied with this run. I don't know what it is that is making me feel so uninspired about my running. I even delayed posting this blog; even writing about it makes me feel awful. For some reason since my last run I am just feeling so unmotivated. I need to get it in gear because that 5k will sneak up on me and I won't be prepared. Not only do I want to beat my husband (who keeps telling me that I will beat him no problem) I want to improve my time from the last 5k. It is important to me to improve. This is my chosen "sport" and I want to excel in it! I need to figure out what's going on with me and kick it up!
So....after the last run I have been feeling very apathetic about running. I bought a book to help me learn how to run faster and I decided to implement one of the suggested training programs in one of the first chapters of the book. The premise is that if you increase your endurance you will increase your speed. I understand the concept; it kind of makes sense but I'm not convinced yet. I think this is because I'm still feeling very unmotivated. I wish I could fix that but for now I just don't know what to do about it.
So the first run in the program called for thirty minutes of "jogging". I believe this is supposed to be "race pace". I took the normal Courthouse run with the circle around the back of the courthouse. It was pretty hot and I had originally thought about hitting the treadmill instead of heading outside but I did go ahead and decide to hit the road. I have been told that once you hit the streets you will prefer them to the treadmill. I didn't believe that until I really had hit the streets and now I understand it and I agree. I have been very vocal about how boring the treadmill is so yeah, that's would be me preferring the street to the treadmill. So if there's even a remote possibility that I can run outside I will.
It was hot out but it wasn't completely unbearable. I ran the first mile with no problem but I haven't been out or on the mill for a few days and it's amazing how quickly you fall out of shape. I'm finding that if I miss more than two days I lose what I've gained and I have to start over. I haven't run for several days and with the lack of enthusiasm I've lost quite a bit of my "edge". After rounding behind the courthouse and stopping at the first water fountain I was wearing down and I had to walk. I walked most of the way home. I was worn out. My time suffered and I was feeling upset at myself for having to walk on the first day of training that is supposed to help me increase my speed.
The method of measurement here is minutes, not miles so even though I will be recording mileage and pace, etc as usual, the main focus here is minutes. Here's the breakdown: I ran 2.4 miles. My average pace was 13:22 and I ran for 32 minutes. My fastest pace was 10:57. I stopped twice for water at the two different water fountains in town. I ended up walking the last mile and I was exhausted.
I am completely dissatisfied with this run. I don't know what it is that is making me feel so uninspired about my running. I even delayed posting this blog; even writing about it makes me feel awful. For some reason since my last run I am just feeling so unmotivated. I need to get it in gear because that 5k will sneak up on me and I won't be prepared. Not only do I want to beat my husband (who keeps telling me that I will beat him no problem) I want to improve my time from the last 5k. It is important to me to improve. This is my chosen "sport" and I want to excel in it! I need to figure out what's going on with me and kick it up!
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